Jha replaced as Google overhauls Motorola management

Sanjay Jha, who revived Motorola’s devices business and led the company through its acquisition, has been replaced as CEO, after Google finalised its takeover of the firm.

Dennis Woodside, who had overseen integration planning for the acquisition and previously served as president of Google’s Americas region, has been installed as CEO in his role. Jha will continue to work with Google to help ensure a smooth transition.

“I would like to thank [Jha] for his efforts and am tremendously pleased that he will be working to ensure a smooth transition as long-time “Googler” Dennis Woodside takes over as CEO of Motorola Mobility,” said Google CEO Larry Page.

“I’ve known Dennis for nearly a decade, and he’s been phenomenal at building teams and delivering on some of Google’s biggest bets. Dennis has always been a committed partner to our customers and I know he will be an outstanding leader of Motorola–and he’s already off to great start with some very strong new hires for the Motorola team.”

Woodside said that he aims to focus Motorola Mobility’s “remarkable talent on fewer, bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people around the world”.

Google is further refreshing the management team, as Woodside has also brought on board new members, including former Director of DARPA Regina Dugan, former supply chain VP at Amazon Mark Randall, former CFO of Marsh & McLennan Vanessa Wittman, former head of HR at Visa and Nvidia Scott Sullivan, and former Google VP of consumer marketing Gary Briggs.

“Motorola Mobility has many outstanding leaders, including people who were behind the original RAZR in 2004 and recent successes like the Droid and RAZR MAXX,” said Woodside. “Our colleagues joining the team come from varied backgrounds, from DARPA to Amazon and NVIDIA, but they all share a track record of leading innovation at speed, and a great deal of excitement about the mission ahead.”

Woodside started his career at Google spearheading investment across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He was responsible for the overall go-to-market, product offering and acquisition strategies in these markets, which saw a 20-fold increase during his tenure, according to the firm, and revenues grew to over $2bn.