Sanjay Jha to step down as Motorola CEO after Google acquisition

Now that Google’s purchase of Motorola has passed almost all of the regulatory hurdles in its way, it’s time to start thinking about the future of the company under Google’s stewardship. According to unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg, Google has spent quite a lot of time pondering that very subject, and the shakeup of Motorola will start at the top: with Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha.

His replacement will apparently be Senior Google VP Dennis Woodside, who has been overseeing the transition of the two companies. As part of the process Woodside has been reporting directly to Google CEO Larry Page, so it would appear that Woodside has been practicing for his new role for some time.

Rumors had been circulating for a while that Google would appoint a new CEO to run Motorola after the deal closes, but previous speculation had centered on another Senior VP, Nikesh Arora, who ran Google’s international business divisions after Eric Schmidt stepped down as Google’s CEO. Arora had been on the short list of CEOs for Yahoo, and it was thought that he may have stayed on at Google to move into the CEO spot at Motorola.

We imagine that this was one of those decisions that was going to hurt somebodies feelings no matter what. What’s more important is it demonstrates that Google expects a Motorola management that is more aligned with Google’s vision of Android over the long haul, which may mean more stock Android and less Motoblur in the future.

Either way, we’re excited to see what products emerge from soon-to-be  minted Googlerola in the coming years.

source: Bloomberg via Droid-Life