Dennis Woodside -- finisher of Ironman Florida and,
Ironman Canada (twice) -- has been named Motorola's new CEO, following the closing of Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The
press release details Woodside's executive background at Google, and media outlets have been quick to add the Ironman experience among his distinguished achievements (not to mention a 2:59
Chicago Marathon 2002).
How fast was Woodside in his
Ironman triathlons? Steady and consistent, top 15% in each race, and with a nearly identical time at Ironman Canada 2010 and 2011.
What's more impressive is that in the last two years with his demanding job as President of Google’s Americas region he appears to have adopted elements of our
approach to maximizing racing performance: if you've got
limited time to train,
race more often. Among his many other races in 2010 and 2011, he completed Wildflower and
Vineman 1/2 Ironman races on his way to racing
Ironman Canada.
May 22, 2012
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – May 22, 2012 – Google Inc.
(NASDAQ: GOOG) announced today that the acquisition of Motorola Mobility
Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI) has closed, with Google acquiring MMI for
$40.00 per share in cash.
The acquisition will enable
Google to supercharge the Android ecosystem and will enhance competition
in mobile computing. Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of
Android and Android will remain open. Google will run Motorola Mobility
as a separate business.
Sanjay Jha, who revived
Motorola’s Mobile Devices business and led the company through this
acquisition, has stepped down as CEO, although he will continue to work
with Google to help ensure a smooth transition.
Dennis
Woodside, who has overseen integration planning for the acquisition and
previously served as President of Google’s Americas region, has become
CEO of Motorola Mobility.
Larry Page, CEO of Google,
said, “I’m happy to announce the deal has closed. Motorola is a great
American tech company, with a track record of over 80 years of
innovation. It’s a great time to be in the mobile business, and I’m
confident that the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation
of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come.
“Sanjay
Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing a big bet
on Android, has stepped down as CEO. I would like to thank him for his
efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a
smooth transition as long-time Googler Dennis Woodside takes over as
CEO of Motorola Mobility.
“I’ve known Dennis for nearly
a decade, and he’s been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on
some of Google’s biggest bets. Dennis has always been a committed
partner to our customers and I know he will be an outstanding leader of
Motorola--and he’s already off to great start with some very strong new
hires for the Motorola team.”
Dennis Woodside, CEO of
Motorola Mobility, said: “Motorola literally invented the entire mobile
industry with the first-ever commercial cell phone in 1983. Thirty years
later, mobile devices are at the center of the computing revolution.
“Our
aim is simple: to focus Motorola Mobility’s remarkable talent on fewer,
bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people
around the world.”
Dennis Woodside has hired a small
number of leaders who will immediately join Motorola’s executive team,
including Regina Dugan (former Director of DARPA), Mark Randall (former
supply chain VP at Amazon and previously at Nokia), Vanessa Wittman
(former CFO of Marsh & McLennan), Scott Sullivan (former head of HR
at Visa and NVIDIA), and Gary Briggs (former Google VP of Consumer
Marketing). In addition to these new leaders, many members of Motorola
Mobility’s team will continue in their current roles: Iqbal Arshad
(Product Development), Marshall Brown (Chief of Staff), Fei Liu (Mass
Market Products), Dan Moloney (Home), Scott Offer (General Counsel),
Mark Shockley (Sales), Mahesh Veerina (Software & Enterprise) and
Jim Wicks (Consumer Experience Design).
Woodside added:
“Motorola Mobility has many outstanding leaders, including people who
were behind the original RAZR in 2004 and recent successes like the
Droid and RAZR MAXX. Our colleagues joining the team come from varied
backgrounds, from DARPA to Amazon and NVIDIA, but they all share a track
record of leading innovation at speed, and a great deal of excitement
about the mission ahead.”
About Dennis Woodside
Dennis
Woodside oversaw Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility, and is
former President of Google’s Americas region. He has worked with
partners, governments and advertisers in more than 30 countries. Most
recently, Dennis was responsible for Google’s Sales & Operations in
the Americas. In the U.S. alone, Dennis and his team drove revenue from
$10.8 billion to $17.5 billion in under three years. He also was the
lead business partner for Google’s advertising product development team,
helping launch new ad products globally. Dennis started his career at
the company spearheading investment across Europe, the Middle East, and
Africa. He was responsible for the overall go-to-market, product
offering and acquisition strategies in these markets, which boasted a
20-fold increase during his tenure. Revenues grew to over $2 billion.
About Google Inc.
Google’s
innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the
world with information every day. Founded in 1998 by Stanford Ph.D.
students Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google today is a top web property
in all major global markets. Google’s targeted advertising program
provides businesses of all sizes with measurable results, while
enhancing the overall web experience for users. Google is headquartered
in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia.
For more information, visit www.google.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This
press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of
Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements
generally can be identified by phrases such as Google or its management
“believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “forecasts,”
“estimates” or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly,
statements herein that describe the future impact of the Motorola
Mobility acquisition, including its financial impact, and other
statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals also are
forward-looking statements. It is uncertain whether any of the events
anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur,
or if any of them do, what impact they will have on Google’s results of
operations, financial condition, or the price of its stock. These
forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in
such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the
ability of Google to successfully integrate Motorola’s operations,
product lines and technology; the ability of Google to implement its
plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Motorola’s
business and realize additional opportunities for growth and innovation;
and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in
Google’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“SEC”), any of which could cause actual results to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements
included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof.
Google does not undertake any obligation to update the forward-looking
statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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