Mobile phone firm Motorola has fought off corporate raider Carl Icahn's attempt to claim a place on its board.
The billionaire investor, who has repeatedly criticised chief executive Ed Zander, lost his battle for a board seat at a shareholder meeting on Monday.
According to preliminary voting figures released by the company last night, Motorola's 13 incumbent directors were re-elected instead. The final results will not be released for a few weeks, once proxy votes are counted.
Mr Icahn, who owns 2.9% of the phone firm, had told shareholders that he was the man to turn the company around.
Last week he placed a full-page advert in the Wall Street Journal which compared Mr Zander to an Alice in Wonderland character after he reportedly yelled "I love my job. I hate my customers" in an office meeting.
Mr Zander said that yesterday's result proved that the company has been listening to its shareholders.
"We value their insights and perspective regarding Motorola. We are focused on executing our plan to improve the performance of our Mobile Devices business and building upon the strength of our strong Networks & Enterprise and Connected Home Solutions businesses," he said.
Although Motorola's shares have staged a small rally in recent days, they are still a third lower than last October. The company posted a 48% drop in profits in January, and has struggled to repeat the success of its ultra-thin RAZR handset. It plans to cut costs by reducing its workforce by 5%.
Mr Icahn told the Associated Press that he plans to keep his shareholding. He also claimed that many smaller shareholders had supported him, but that large institutional investors had backed the current board.
