Motorola Names Rick Osterloh as President While Waiting for Lenovo Deal to Close

Motorola, which is in the process of being sold by Google to Lenovo, said Wednesday that it was naming executive Rick Osterloh as president.

Osterloh, who had been head of product management at Motorola, replaces Dennis Woodside, who left Motorola in February to become chief operating officer at Dropbox.

“Rick is a Silicon Valley veteran and a familiar face across Motorola,” Google’s Jonathan Rosenberg said in a blog post. Osterloh has had two stints at Motorola, first joining the company when it bought Good Technology seven years ago (Good is no longer part of Motorola). He then went to Skype before its acquisition by Microsoft and has been back at Motorola for the past two years.

“Since his return, Rick’s had a key role in the company’s reinvigoration,” Rosenberg said. “He’s been a guiding visionary on the entire product front and a passionate advocate for our philosophy to focus everything we do on the consumer experience.

“I believe that Rick’s appointment provides the focused leadership and business continuity needed to steer the organization into the future, and I look forward to continuing in my role as Google liaison and advisor to Motorola through the transition period supporting Rick.”

Lenovo also praised the move.

“We are pleased to learn that Motorola has named Rick Osterloh to lead Motorola Mobility, effective today,” Lenovo executive VP Liu Jun said in a statement. “Rick has a strong track record of success and delivering outstanding innovation for customers. He is a trusted, proven leader. We’re confident in his ability to not only manage a smooth transition at Motorola from Google to Lenovo but also to lead the business forward for continued growth.”

Osterloh will report to a Motorola operating board within Google until the Lenovo deal closes.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Osterloh was named CEO. His new title is president and chief operating officer.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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