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May 8, 2008

According to various reports, Wall Street raider Carl Icahn has increased his ownership in Motorola by 1.2 percent to a total of 7.6 percent of the company's outstanding shares.

Last month, Icahn settled a year-long proxy battle against Motorola, when the handset maker agreed to support two of four board nominees proposed by the controversial investor.

In April, Motorola said that it would seek counsel from Icahn regarding its decision to split off its cell phone business and its search for a new head of the division.

On Monday, shareholders used Motorola's annual meeting to blast the company's board and management, questioning leadership and whether it should proceed with creating a separate division in the first place.

According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Icahn and affiliates purchased a total of 172.2 million of Motorola shares for a cost of $2.36 billion, including commissions.

In light of Icahn's many controversial moves towards Motorola in the past two years, it will be interesting to see how all of this turns out for the balance of the year, and the outcome it could potentially have in the wireless industry.

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Source: Motorola.