Google just announced it closed the deal on its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility, but new reports suggest that direct-competitor Apple tried to poach newly-appointed Motorola chief and Googler Dennis Woodside sometime last year.
Bloomberg, which cited two people familiar with the matter, claimed Apple’s CEO Tim Cook contacted Woodside and tried to lure him away with a flashy proposal to become head of sales at the Cupertino, Calif.-based Company.
Meanwhile, Google’s CEO Larry Page had to guarantee Woodside a better gig to keep him from jumping ship, which poised the executive to take the reigns as Motorola’s new top-dog.
According to Bloomberg:
Last August, Google (GOOG) Chief Executive Officer Larry Page fulfilled a pledge made to one of his senior executives, a square-jawed former attorney named Dennis Woodside. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook had been trying to poach Woodside to make him Apple’s head of sales, but Google had convinced Woodside to stay, in part by promising him greater responsibility at the search company, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private. Now it was time to make good. Woodside says he was speaking with board member Ram Shriram when Page asked him to run Motorola Mobility, the company Google had just acquired for $12.5 billion. ‘He said, ‘I know you’ve been looking for a challenge,’’ Woodside recalls. ‘I want you to run Motorola. I think you’d be great at it. Can you let me know by tonight?’’
Read the full-story about Google’s acquisition of Moto at 9to5Google.
(Image via SmartphoneEnvy)
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