Motorola boss Jha to get $38 million if split doesn't occur

Motorola Inc., the U.S. phone maker that plans to split in two, increased the payment co-Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha receives in case the separation doesn't occur as planned.

Jha will get $38 million if the split doesn't happen by June 30, 2011, Motorola said today in a regulatory filing. The company originally agreed to give Jha $30 million if the separation didn't occur by Oct. 31, 2010.

Motorola said last week it will split into two publicly traded companies next year, after delaying a plan first unveiled in 2008. If the plan is successful, Jha will get equity totaling 1.8 percent to 3 percent of the part that will keep making phones, depending on that business's market value. That's a change from his former agreement for fixed 3 percent.

"This employment agreement is designed to address unique circumstances related to the company's separation of its business, including the entrepreneurial challenge," said Tama McWhinney, a Motorola spokeswoman, in an interview today.

Motorola plans to combine its mobile-phone and set-top-box divisions into one company, and the enterprise mobility unit -- which makes two-way radios and bar-code scanners -- and network division into a second business. Jha, head of the phone business, would become CEO of the handset and set-top-box part.

The company, which developed the first commercial mobile phone in 1983, is trying to revive its reputation as an innovator in consumer technology. The company's sales have slid for three years as consumers snapped up rival devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone.