Motorola names former AT&T chief executive Dorman to succeed Zander
David Dorman is taking his experience of leading AT&T to Motorola Inc.
The Schaumburg-based company said Wednesday it has appointed board member Dorman to replace outgoing Ed Zander as chairman of the board.
Zander, who resigned last year under pressure as CEO, holds onto his chairmanship until May 5, when shareholders have their annual meeting.
Dorman, 54, was unavailable for an interview Wednesday but said in a statement that Motorola has "tremendous assets and talented people, and I am confident in the actions (CEO) Greg Brown, our management team and board are taking."
Dorman's work at AT&T wasn't all roses. A 2004 listing on MSN cited Dorman as among the worst CEOs in the nation, primarily for making what it considered bad deals for then ailing AT&T.
"Since Dorman, who was once a Bell system wunderkind, has taken the reins, the value of AT&T shares have sunk about 60 percent -- which has been kind of a cool feat since they had fallen about 60 percent in value in the three years prior to his installment," wrote Jon D. Markman, publisher of StockTactics Advisor.
Dorman joined AT&T as president in December 2000 and served as chairman and CEO from 2002 to November 2005. Previously, Dorman served as CEO of Concert, the global venture created by AT&T and British Telecommunications from 1999 to 2000, and as chairman, president and CEO of Pacific Bell from 1994 until its acquisition by SBC Communications in 1997. He served as an executive vice president of SBC until last January.
Analysts say what happened to Dorman during the nuclear winter of the telecom industry and dot-com bust shouldn't be held against him now. AT&T was in a difficult position when Dorman took over there and he did the best he could, said Rick Franklin, telecom analyst with Edward Jones.
"I'm not sure if Mr. Dorman will be able to help Motorola fix its problems," Franklin said. "I don't think the history is there to make a strong case either way. While a capable leader, he was on the board during Motorola's downward slide, so he must share some of the blame for Motorola's current problems along with all board members."
Dorman joined Motorola's board of directors in 2006. He was on the board last year when billionaire investor Carl Icahn attempted to get a seat on the board. Icahn sought a breakup of the company and this week settled a lawsuit against Motorola, a deal that will place two colleagues on the board.
Some Wall Street analysts said they're waiting to see what happens and how the long ailing mobile devices business of Motorola gets fixed before spinning off into a publicly traded company next year.
"It will take more than a new chairman to fix Motorola," said Edward Snyder, telecom analyst and principal of Charter Equity Research.
Greg Brown could certainly use the help from a seasoned telecom veteran, said Mark McKechnie, telecom analyst with American Technology Research.
"Motorola is still in the process of finding a CEO for its handset spin-off," said McKechnie. "As strange as it may sound, that may be a more important appointment than the chairman of the board role."