After acquiring Motorola Mobility Holdings for $12.5 billion, search engine giant Google Inc has named Dennis Woodside, former president of Google's Americas region, as the new CEO of Motorola.
Sanjay Jha, former CEO of Motorola, has stepped down, giving way for Dennis Woodside to take up the task of leading the cellphone company.
The deal was struck after the companies won the approval of the Chinese government for the acquisition. Google said that the company has agreed to keep its Android software open and free for at least five years in order to get the approval. It also has agreed to charge reasonable fees for technology licenses.
Larry Page, CEO of Google, announced on the search engine's official blog that the deal with Motorola Mobility had been closed. He also expressed his happiness on the deal, saying that phones have changed people's lives.
"It's why I'm excited to announce today that our Motorola Mobility deal has closed. Motorola is a great American tech company that has driven the mobile revolution, with a track record of over 80 years of innovation, including the creation of the first cell phone. We all remember Motorola's StarTAC, which at the time seemed tiny and showed the real potential of these devices. And as a company who made a big, early bet on Android, Motorola has become an incredibly valuable partner to Google," wrote Page.
Larry Page said that Sanjay Jha, former CEO of Motorola, will ensure smooth transition.
"Sanjay Jha, who was responsible for building the company and placing that 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," he said.
Page also expressed his confidence in the new CEO of Motorola, saying that he's already off to great start.
"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. One of his first jobs at Google was to put on his backpack and build our businesses across the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Russia. More recently he helped increase our revenue in the U.S. from $10.8 billion to $17.5 billion in under three years as President of the Americas region. Dennis has always been a committed partner to our customers and I know he will be an outstanding leader of Motorola. As an Ironman triathlete, he's got plenty of energy for the journey ahead - and he's already off to great start with some very strong new hires for the Motorola team," he said.
