Motorola CEO Defends Timing of Stock Sale

Motorola Inc. Chief Executive Christopher Galvin said he had “absolutely no knowledge” that the company’s operating chief was about to quit when he sold 40,000 shares last week, a day before the resignation announcement sent the stock plummeting.

Defending his stock transaction at a meeting with analysts, Galvin called the timing of the sale regrettable because it coincided with Edward Breen’s departure.

Breen, who also was Motorola’s president, was credited with helping to craft a modest turnaround at the long-slumping cell phone and semiconductor maker.

The announcement late Thursday afternoon that he was leaving caused the company’s volatile stock--which already had fallen $1.28, to $12.18, that day--to tumble an additional 10% to $10.90 Friday on the New York Stock Exchange. Motorola shares fell 11 cents, to $11.98, on Tuesday.

“I had absolutely no knowledge of Ed’s intentions or events,” Galvin said at the start of the company’s annual meeting with financial analysts outside Chicago.