Sollie Zander Walks With A Fortune

Mr. Zander insisted Friday that the decision to leave now was his own, and that he was looking forward to time with his family. Mr. Zander came to Motorola in 2004 about a year after resigning as president of Sun Microsystems. At the time, he was serving as a managing director at Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm in Menlo Park, Calif.
 

Zander Knew Pain

Zander is the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland, and Greece, who couldn't afford college and stressed education to their children. His father reportedly dreamed of being a lawyer but instead settled for a job as a furrier in order to support his ill parents. His mother, now blind with glaucoma, emigrated from Greece after her entire family was wiped out by Turkish nationalists in 1922.  Growing up, he was given the nickname "Fast Eddie" by his friends because, according to a Boston Globe article, he frequently demonstrated the "hustle of a street kid spoiling for a good fight." Zander himself remarked, "I'm from New York, so I'm New York fast" (June 19, 2000). Zander attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and graduated in the class of 1968. Zander is now married to Mona Zander, and the couple have two sons.

 

His Replacement

Mr. Brown, 47, joined Motorola in 2003 from Micromuse, a network software company, and became president and chief operating officer in March. Mr. Zander said that he told the board two years ago that Mr. Brown would be a good candidate to lead the company.

“I began throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him,” Mr. Zander said in an interview. “He is a known quantity and a great leader.”

Carl Ichan

The stock market is what powers America.