Motorola Inc. has named a new chief financial officer from outside the company.
Paul Liska, a former Sears, Roebuck and Co. CFO, will take over March 1 for Tom Meredith, a Motorola board member who was named interim CFO last March.
Liska, who most recently was a partner at several private-equity firms, is a surprise choice for the post. Some Motorola insiders guessed the new CFO would come from within the company.
Bringing in an outsider could be a risky move for CEO Greg Brown, who took over the top job only last month and is under serious pressure from Wall Street. Carl Icahn, who holds a 5% stake in Motorola, has mounted another proxy fight.
Meredith, who will remain on the board of directors, was a favorite among Wall Street analysts and investors dating back to his days as CFO of Dell Inc. He was viewed as a smart, straight-shooting financial whiz who championed cash and tight inventory control. But Meredith, who was a friend of former Motorola CEO Ed Zander from their days together at Sun Microsystems Inc., never intended to stay in the job long-term.
“I’m a big fan of Tom Meredith,” Jim Suva, a Citigroup analyst, said recently in an interview before Liska was named the new CFO. “I’ve really welcomed him bringing in financial discipline.”
As Brown considers whether to spin off Motorola’s handset business, Liska’s private-equity background could be his more pressing need.
John Pletz is a reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business, a sister publication for RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc.
