Rumor: Google’s Nikesh Arora to run Motorola after deal is finalized

In case you are wondering who at Google would be in charge of running Motorola once the acquisition finally closes, a report from BusinessInsider said internally Google’s SVP and Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora is rumored to get the job:

Nikesh, who ran the company’s international business for Eric Schmidt and then took over the global business when Schmidt stepped down, is thought to have been “agitating” for a CEO role. He was recently said to be on a list of candidates to become CEO of Yahoo. It’s possible that the CEO slot at Motorola was part of Google’s counter to that opportunity.

The report continued by claiming the current head of North and Latin American advertising and operations teams Dennis Woodside is rumored to take over Arora’s role. Google said it plans to continue running Motorola as a separate business, but many have thought the purchase was mainly for Motorola’s patent portfolio. If patents are all they are after, BusinessInsider pointed out Google could potentially end up shutting down Motorola’s manufacturing operations.