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TECHNOLOGY BLOG

Motorola lures Jha to head cellphones

Motorola, struggling to design a popular line of cellphones, tapped Sanjay K. Jha of Qualcomm, to head its troubled mobile phone division and share chief executive duties for the entire company in an unusual power-sharing arrangement. 

Sanjay K. Jha will be co-chief executive for the entire company and lead the mobile phone unit, sharing the title of co-chief executive with the current chief executive, Gregory Q. Brown.

Brown was also given the title of chief executive of Motorola’s home and business broadband business, the other, more successful, part of Motorola’s business.

Jha's compensation package is worth up to $94 million providing 3% of the stock in the mobile-device division when it is spun off, or $30 million cash if it isn't spun off by October 2010.

For several months, Motorola has been seeking a leader who could inspire innovation in its money-losing mobile phone unit. The company had been a leader in the cellphone handset industry, but lost momentum when designers and engineers failed to come up with a successor to the popular Razr phone.

Link to New York Times - Posted August 5, 2008

AMD replaces CEO

Under Hector Ruiz's leadership, chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rose to challenge larger rival Intel Corp. as never before in AMD's nearly 40-year history.

Yet after six years as AMD's CEO, the embattled Ruiz stepped down Thursday as pressure mounts on the Sunnyvale-based company to dig itself out of a deep financial hole and recover from a devastating product stumble that wound up benefiting Intel in a big way.

Ruiz, 62, the only person to head AMD other than founder and longtime chief executive Jerry Sanders, will remain on the board of directors. One of the few Hispanic CEOs of a major U.S. corporation, Ruiz had also been AMD chairman but now takes on the title of executive chairman, a distinction that lets him retain some day-to-day responsibilities.

He's being replaced as CEO by AMD's current president and chief operating officer, Dirk Meyer, 46, an engineer and chip designer who has been helping Ruiz run the company since 2006. That means he knows AMD's operations intimately but also that he shares some of the responsibility for the company's financial distress.

Link to AP - Posted July 18, 2008

• InterVoice, a call automation software company based in Dallas, TX, has appointed Jim Milton chief executive officer. Milton succeeds Robert Ritchey, who is retiring but remains on the board. Milton continues his role of president and chief operating officer.
   

• Yahoo!, an Internet portal site based in Sunnyvale, CA, has announced several management changes under the new president Sue Decker. Ash Patel, a software management veteran, will head the product portfolio of the company including search, email and instant messaging. Hilary Schneider, currently chief of the advertising business, will oversee all U.S. businesses for the company. Jerry Yang, chief executive of the company, said, “The shift is designed to put us in an even better position to leverage our leading global audience and capture the opportunity we see in the convergence of search and display advertising.”
   

• NEC, the Japanese computing and networking technology company based in Tokyo has announced the pending acquisition of telecom management software company NetCracker, based in Waltham, MA. The deal is $300 million for the firm with revenues of $94 million. NetCracker’s clients included Sprint Nextel and France Telecom.
   

• EBay, online auction and marketplace company based in San Jose, CA, has announced the impending retirement of auction business head Rajiv Dutta, effective in October. Dutta will be succeeded by Lorrie Norrington, who is currently president of marketplace operations. Dutta’s 10 year career at eBay has included top financial executive roles in key business units such as auctions, PayPal and Skype. Dutta also departs the board.
   

• Nuance Communications, a speech recognition software company based in Burlington, MA, has appointed Thomas Beaudoin executive vice president and chief financial officer. Beaudoin succeeds James Arnold Jr., who will remain with the company through a transition period. Previously, Beaudoin was president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Polaroid, owned by Petters Group Worldwide.
   

• Westell, a broadband modem and local network equipment maker based in Aurora, IL, has named Bernard Sergesketter interim chief executive officer. Sergesketter succeeds Thomas Mader, who resigned from the company. Previously, Sergesketter has been a board member of the company from 2000 to his retirement in 2007.
   

• Avanex, a fiber-optic network component manufacturer based in Fremont, CA, has announced the termination of chairman, president and chief executive officer Jo Major. The company sited an inability for the board and Major to work together effectively as the reason. The company also announced the resignation of chief financial officer Marla Sanchez. Succeeding Major, the company appointed Giovanni Barbarossa as interim chief executive officer and Paul Simon as non-executive chairman. Barbarossa is currently senior vice president and chief technology officer while Smith has been a board member since last November.
   

• Atmel, a semiconductor design outfit based in San Jose, CA, has named Stephen Cumming vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Cumming succeeds Robert Avery, who has retired. Previously, Cumming was vice president of business finance for Fairchild Semiconductor International Inc.
   

• Entegris, a technology hardware manufacturing equipment company based in Chaska, MN, has appointed Bertrand Loy chief operating officer. Loy succeeds Jean-Marc Pandraud, who retired. Previously, Loy was executive vice president and chief administrative officer.
   

• Lattice Semiconductor, a programmable logic device semiconductor manufacturer based in Hillsboro, OR, has appointed Bruno Guilmart president and chief executive officer. Guilmart succeeds interim president and chief executive Jan Johannessen, who will remain senior vice president and chief financial officer. Guilmart was previously group chief executive officer for Malaysian semiconductor equipment company Unisem (M) Berhad.
   

• Juniper Networks, a network equipment company based in Sunnyvale, CA, has appointed Kevin Johnson chief executive officer. Previously, Johnson was general manager of online services and Windows software for Microsoft. Johnson had also led Microsoft’s failed bid for Yahoo!. Johnson succeeds Scott Kreins, who will remain executive chairman.
   

• Cuil, a search engine startup based in Menlo Park, CA, was unveiled earlier in the month. Cuil, pronounced “cool”, claims to have indexed 120 billion web pages and is taking aim at search engine leader Google. The company was founded last year by IBM veteran Tom Costello and Anna Patterson, who previously worked for Google. Funding is unrevealed but investors include Madrone Capital Partners, Greylock Partners and Tugboat Ventures.
   

• Facebook, an online social network based in Palo Alto, CA, has appointed Mike Schroepfer director of engineering. Schroepfer previously led the development of the Firefox browser as Mozilla’s vice president of engineering.
   

• Fairpoint Communications, a local and long distance communication service based in Charlotte, NC, has appointed Lisa Hood acting chief financial officer. Hood succeeds John Crowley who resigned to become senior counsel at Financial Markets International. Hood continues in her role as senior vice president and controller at the company.

Xerox Gets a Brand Makeover

The venerable Xerox brand is far from dead or dying. It is, after all, not just a brand name but also in some countries a verb, like Google. That's pretty good company in the world of high tech. But most of Xerox's customers don't put the Stamford (Conn.) copier company in the same class as the Internet search juggernaut. A new brand makeover, Xerox's first in 40 years, kicks off this week in a step toward trying to get customers to think of Xerox in a different light.

Link to BusinessWeek - Posted January 9, 2008 



Cisco lands Padmasree Warrior, Geek Queen

Padmasree Warrior, who resigned as Motorola Inc.'s chief technology officer yesterday, will take on the same job at Cisco Systems Inc., the networking vendor announced today. Warrior will become Cisco's first CTO since Charles Giancarlo traded the title for chief development officer in 2005 in a broad management reorganization. Warrior, 47, will report to chairman and CEO John Chambers. The move takes Warrior from a struggling maker of consumer and enterprise mobile products to a company that dominates several markets and is rapidly expanding into others. Her departure from Motorola came just days after CEO Ed Zander was replaced amid falling sales and profits. Zander is set to leave the company at year's end. 

Link to ComputerWorld - Posted December 5, 2007

Gore joins Kleiner Perkins

Former Democratic vice president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore is joining the prestigious venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers as a partner in the firm's global warming solutions practice.

California's passage of the nation's first economy-wide limits on greenhouse gases will make the state a testing ground to see which technologies - biofuels, hybrids, solar power plants, green building techniques - will prove most viable and cost effective, Gore said.

Gore has pledged to give his Kleiner Perkins salary to the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Palo Alto-based nonprofit he chairs that advocates for policies to fight global warming (but no mention of pledging the stock options, which is where the really big dollars are generated....) 

Link to the San Francisco Chronicle - Posted November 13, 2007

Yahoo executives grilled by Congress over China policies 

The U.S. House of Representatives is holding a hearing titled "Yahoo! Inc.'s Provision of False Information to Congress." With a title like that, you can be sure this particular event will be be fair, neutral, and objective. 

What led to Tuesday morning's hearing are two events. The first: information Yahoo provided to Communist authorities was allegedly used to convict Shi Tao, a 37-year-old journalist, of leaking "state secrets." The second: Yahoo general counsel Michael Callahan may have given not-entirely-accurate information to the House when testifying during the last time Yahoo was dragged onto the carpet to be criticized by politicians. This time, Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang is testifying along with Callahan.

Link to CNET - Posted November 6, 2007

Facebook fridays

Serena Software in San Mateo, Calif. is launching Facebook Fridays for all of its 900 workers who now spend an hour each week on Facebook—updating their profiles, collaborating with colleagues and clients, and recruiting for the company. René Bonvanie, SVP of worldwide marketing and CEO Jeremy Burton came up with the Facebook Friday idea and are backing it to the hilt, using their profiles as a template for what employees should know about what they should put on the popular social networking site.

Link to BusinessWeek - Posted November 5, 2007

Google stock barrels through $700

Google's stock price barreled through $700 for the first time today, propelled by a belief that the Internet search leader will become even more profitable as it plants its products and services in new markets.

Link to Yahoo/AP - posted October 31, 2007

SAP guru to build green cars

Shai Agassi had been expected to take over global software powerhouse SAP. As its head of North American operations Agassi had been the heir apparent. That all changed when Agassi abruptly resigned from SAP and has now turned up as the head of a new company that will focus on the electric car market. This new, as-yet unnamed company in Palo Alto, California has raised an astounding $200 million in initial funding, including $100 million from Israel Corp., an Israeli-based holding company. 

Link to Business Week - posted October 29, 2007

Microsoft invests in Facebook

Microsoft has invested $240 million in Facebook for a 1.6 percent stake, which values Facebook at $15 billion. Facebook was started in February 2004 by now 23-year-old Mark Zuckerberg. The deal appears to usurp Google who was said to be very interested in an equity relationship with the popular social network site.  Owen Van Natta, Facebook's vice president of operations and chief revenue officer, and Kevin Johnson, Microsoft's platforms and services division president, brokered the deal.

Link to the Seattle Times - posted October 25, 2007

Wikipedia moving to San Francisco

The Wikimedia Foundation, the force behind the popular online encyclopedia Wikipedia, is moving its headquarters to San Francisco this winter, further solidifying the Bay Area's position as the epicenter of the Web 2.0 movement, which focuses on collaboration, community and user-generated content.

Link to San Francisco Chronicle - posted October 11, 2007

Rise & fall of a corporate headhunter 

Just ran across this amazing story on Jeff Christian founder and previous CEO of executive search powerhouse Christian & Timbers. Homicide, manslaughter and drugs, this story has it all. Christian was a giant in the Valley during the dot-com boom placing many CEOs including Carly Fiorina at Hewlett-Packard.

Christian, 51 (see mug shot) pleaded no contest to reckless homicide for the drug overdose death of Thomas Wasil, 31 on April 12, 2006, and to one count of permitting drug abuse for allowing Amos Benjamin, 17 to take drugs in his home on May 9, 2006. Now we understand why Christian & Timbers changed their name to CTPartners.

Update: Christian has been sentenced to three years in state penitentiary as part of a plea deal for reckless homicide. (October 22, 2007)

Link to BusinessWeek - posted September 15, 2007

Yahoo!: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

CNET executive editor Charles Cooper is one of many observers not overwhelmed by the appointment of founder Jerry Yang to take over the helm at Yahoo:

"The chorus baying for Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's scalp finally got what it wanted. After underwhelming the only reviewers who really matter these days, the MBAs on Wall Street, the (now very wealthy) Hollywood guy gets to wave goodbye to Silicon Valley's geeks and return to hang with his old showbiz buddies in Bel Air. But as much as the financial mandarins hated Semel, Wall Street may well rue the day Yahoo put Jerry Yang back in charge."

Link to cnet.com - posted June 19, 2007

• 3Com, a networking hardware company based in Marlborough, MA, has announced a buyout deal by private equity firm Bain Capital Partners. The $2.2 billion deal also gives a minority stake in the company to Huawei Technologies, China’s largest manufacturer of technology equipment. The deal offers an opportunity for 3Com to expand in the Asian region.

• Samsung Electronics, the New Jersey-based North American subsidiary of the Korean semiconductor company, has appointed Steven Cook senior vice president and chief strategic marketing officer. Previously Cook was vice president of worldwide strategic planning and business development at Coca-Cola and held several marketing positions at Procter & Gamble.

• Hewlett Packard, based in Palo Alto, CA, has announced the completed acquisition of Sunnyvale,CA-based data center automation software company Opsware. Upon closing, Opsware becomes a subsidiary of HP and includes its IT automation software with the parent company’s business technology optimization portfolio. Former Opsware chief executive Ben Horowitz now leads the business unit and reports to HP senior vice president of software Thomas E. Hogan. HP also announced the appointment of Michael Mendenhall as chief marketing officer. Previously, Mendenhall held a 17 year career with Walt Disney Company, where he directed marketing and publicity activities for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Mendenhall will report to executive vice president and chief strategy and technology officer Shane Robison.

• Lantronix, a networking device company based in Irvine, CA, has announced the resignation of chief executive officer Marc Nussbaum. The board has appointed chief financial officer Reagan Y. Sakai interim chief executive while a search is conducted for a successor.

• Microsoft, based in Redmond, WA, has appointed Rick Thompson vice president of the Zune portable music player division. Thompson assumes his responsibility from the vice president of the entertainment and devices unit, J Allard, who had overseen development for the Zune in the wake of the previous Zune architect, Bryan Lee. Thompson has been a long-time Microsoft employee, serving in the company in various roles since 1987.

• Trident Microsystems, a digital TV chipset semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, CA, has appointed Sylvia Summers chief executive officer. Previously, Summers was executive vice president of consumer smart card and industrial division of Spansion and vice president and general manager of the embedded business unit for Advanced Micro Devices’s memory products business. Summers was also appointed to the board of directors.

• Marvell Technology, a mixed signal semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, CA, has appointed vice president and chief technology officer Pantas Sutardja acting chief operating officer. Sutardja succeeds former executive vice president and chief operating officer Weili Dai, who had resigned in May.
• DirecTV, a satellite TV provider based in El Segundo, CA, has announced several organizational changes. The company appointed Michael Palkovic, previously chief financial officer, to executive vice president of operations. Palkovic is succeeded in his chief finance role by Patrick Doyle, who previously was chief accounting officer. The company also announced the resignation of John Suranyi, formerly president of sales and service

• Nokia, a Finnish handset manufacturer with a North American subsidiary based in Irving, TX, has announced plans to acquire Chicago, IL-based navigation software and devices company NAVTEQ. The $8.1 billion all-cash transaction is expected to close later in the year. In the aftermath of the acquisition, Nokia will reorganize its device business and Judson Green, current Navteq chief executive, will report to Nokia chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo.

• Acxiom, an information technology services company based in Little Rock, AR, has announced that the $2.25 billion privatization offer has fallen through. Private equity firms Silver Lake Partners and ValueAct Capital have backed out of the deal and agreed to pay $65 million in cash to terminate the agreement. Acxiom chairman and chief executive officer Charles Morgan, who has led the company for 35 years, announced a search for a successor and his retirement upon completion of that search.

• Silicon Laboratories, an analog semiconductor company based in Austin, TX, has announced a pair of executive appointments. Carlos Garcia has been named general manager of the access product business unit. Previously, Garcia was vice president of system and field application engineering with Agere. Mark Thompson has been named general manager of the broadcast audio business unit. Thompson first joined Silicon Labs in 2000 as a product manager.

• SAP, a German enterprise application software company with a North American subsidiary in Newton Square, PA, has announced the pending acquisition of French business intelligence software company Business Objects. The $5.7 billion all-cash transaction is expected to close later in the year. The deal represents an abrupt change in strategy to SAP’s prior preference to internally grown business, as opposed to software rival Oracle’s acquisition strategy.

• Sprint Nextel, a telecommunications company based in Reston, VA, has announced the departure of chairman and chief executive officer Gary Forsee. Forsee was ousted by the board, seeking new leadership. Chief financial officer Paul Saleh has become interim chief executive until a replacement is found. Board member James Hance became acting chairman. Sprint has stated that they will focus on searching for a permanent successor outside of the company.

• Accenture, an IT consulting company based in Irving, TX, has appointed Adrian Lajtha chief leadership officer. Lajtha’s responsibilities include human capital, diversity, corporate citizenship and running the internal leadership development program. Lajtha succeeds Pierre Nanterme, who has been appointed chief executive of the financial services group. Previously, Lajtha was a managing partner of the company’s financial services business in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Lajtha joined Accenture in 1979 and served on the board of partners prior to the company’s incorporation in 2001.

Beatles' Apple and Jobs' Apple make deal

Apple (the computer and iPod company) and Apple (the Beatles' record company) have settled their ongoing trademark dispute, paving the way, for perhaps (?), downloads of Beatle tunes by Apple's iTunes. Years ago, the Beatles allowed Jobs to use the Apple name for computers while they retained all rights for music. Apple's success with the iPod and iTunes has made it one of the most successful music companies on the planet--clearly operating in the music business. It appears that Apple (Computer) has paid as much as $100 million to the Beatles and their estates to gain outright ownership to the name while allowing the Beatles to continue to use the mark for its recordings and related businesses.

"IPod and iTunes parent Apple Inc. has settled a trademark dispute with the Beatles, ending an issue that has resurfaced multiple times during the past two decades and perhaps setting the stage for digital distribution of the Fab Four's music.

The settlement announced Monday has the computer-maker getting all trademarks related to "Apple" while also licensing certain ones back to Apple Corps, the entity founded by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in 1968 to guard the commercial interests of their band.

The Apple vs. Apple dispute first erupted in 1978 and was temporarily settled when the computer-maker reportedly paid Apple Corps about $80,000 and promised not to enter the music business. It flared up 13 years later when Apple Corps charged that Apple Inc. was breaching its agreement by selling Macintosh computers with MIDI software, an acronym for musical instrument digital interface. The computer-maker settled with another promise and $26.5 million in 1991; Monday's deal supplants that settlement."

Link to BrandWeek - posted February 15, 2007
Posted February 6, 2007

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