Billionaire Icahn steps up for Moto board

One of America’s richest and most influential businessmen, Carl Icahn, on Tuesday told mobile company Motorola that he hopes to be elected to its board of directors.

Icahn, who made his name in the mid-eightees for his aggressive business style, filed a nomination notice with Motorola on Monday. He is best known for his takeover of TWA in 1985, is a director of Blockbuster Inc. and has tried, unsuccessfully, to take over Marvel Comics.

It is understood the company has twelve seats in its board which will be due for a nomination procedure at the company’s next annual meeting.

The news follows a particularly difficult period for Motorola which this month announced 3,500 job cuts. The firm has been widely criticised for having a thin portfolio and Ed Zander, the company’s chief, has conceded that Motorola needs to do better.