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Motorola, Carl Icahn
Settle
7 April 2008
Motorola and Carl Icahn have reached an agreement under which William R.
Hambrecht, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of WR Hambrecht
+ Co. and co-founder of Hambrecht & Quist, and Keith Meister, a managing
director of the Icahn investment funds and principal executive officer
of Icahn Enterprises, will be nominated for election to Motorola’s Board
of Directors at the 2008 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and included in
the Company’s 2008 proxy statement. In addition, Mr. Meister has been
appointed to serve on the Board, effective immediately.
Carl
Icahn
In connection with the nomination of Messrs. Hambrecht and Meister, the
Icahn Group, which beneficially owns, in the aggregate 144,562,000
shares of Motorola common stock, representing approximately 6.4% of
Motorola’s outstanding shares, has agreed not to solicit proxies in
connection with the 2008 Annual Meeting and to vote its shares in
support of all of the Board’s director nominees.
As part of the settlement agreement, all pending litigation between
Motorola and Carl Icahn will be dismissed. In addition, Motorola has
agreed to seek input from Mr. Icahn in connection with significant
matters regarding the intended separation of the Mobile Devices
business, including the search for a new CEO to head the Mobile Devices
business. In addition Messrs. Hambrecht and Meister may communicate with
Mr. Icahn, subject to certain confidentiality restrictions, regarding
Board activities of Motorola, including with respect to the intended
separation of the company into two independent businesses.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Carl Icahn,” said
Greg Brown, president and chief executive officer. “We look forward to
continuing the process we announced on March 26 to create two
independent publicly-traded companies and we are pleased to avoid a
costly and distracting proxy contest.”
"This is a very positive step for Motorola in that shareholder
representatives will have strong input into board decisions affecting
the future of our company," said Carl Icahn. Mr. Icahn further noted,
"In addition, the Motorola Board has also taken an important step
forward for corporate governance in that the separated company which
includes Mobile Devices will be essentially free from poison pills and
staggered boards, both of which, in my opinion, serve to make democracy
a travesty in corporate America."
William R. Hambrecht, 72, has been Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of WR Hambrecht + Co, a financial services firm, since December
1997. Mr. Hambrecht co-founded Hambrecht & Quist in 1968, from which he
resigned in December 1997 to form WR Hambrecht + Co. Mr. Hambrecht
currently serves on the Board of Trustees for The American University of
Beirut and is on the Advisory Investment Committee to the Board of
Regents of the University of California. He also serves on the Advisory
Council to The J. David Gladstone Institutes. In October 2006, Mr.
Hambrecht was inducted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr.
Hambrecht graduated from Princeton University. 
Keith Meister, 34, since August 2003, has served as Vice Chairman of the
Board of Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc., the general partner of Icahn
Enterprises L.P. (NYSE: IEP), a diversified holding company engaged in a
variety of businesses, including investment management, metals, real
estate and home fashion. From August 2003 through March 2006, Mr.
Meister also served as Chief Executive Officer of Icahn Enterprises G.P.
Inc., and since March 2006, Mr. Meister has served as Principal
Executive Officer of Icahn Enterprises G.P. Inc. Since November 2004,
Mr. Meister has been a Managing Director of Icahn Capital LP, the entity
through which Carl C. Icahn manages third party private investment
funds. Since June 2002, Mr. Meister has served as senior investment
analyst of High River Limited Partnership, an entity primarily engaged
in the business of holding and investing in securities. Mr. Meister also
serves on the boards of directors of the following companies: XO
Holdings, Inc., WCI Communities, Inc., and Federal-Mogul Corporation.
With respect to each company mentioned above, Mr. Icahn, directly or
indirectly, either (i) controls such company or (ii) has an interest in
such company through the ownership of securities. Mr. Meister received
an A.B. in government, cum laude, from Harvard College in 1995. |