Mike S. Zafirovski
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[edit] Personal
Mike S. Zafirovski (b. 1954? in Skopje, Macedonia) immigrated to United States in 1969, arriving in Cleveland, Ohio with his family, $1500 dollars among them and speaking no English. [1] [2] Two years later, he got into Edinboro University on a swimming scholarship.
He has a wife named Robin, who he met during his career at GE, and three sons.
In 2004, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. [3]
[edit] Career
Mr. Zafirovski spent 24 years with General Electric, starting in 1975, where he went through GE's Jack Welch-style leadership training programs and served in various management positions. Between 1996 and 1999, he was head of the European division of GE Lighting, during which time the division posted record profits. He was then promoted to his last position at GE, as President and CEO of GE Lighting from July 1999 to May 2000.
Afterwards, he joined Motorola, serving as Executive Vice President and President of the Personal Communications Sector from June 2000 until July 2002. In 2002, he was passed over for the promotion to Chief Operating Officer for Edward Breen, but Breen quit later that year and Zafirovski was given the title in July 2002. His success in the PCS division among other achivements at Motorola, seemed to make him a perfect candidate for the CEO position but the title went to Edward Zander on January 5, 2004. Zafirovski resigned on January 12, 2005.[4] He was a consultant to and a director of Motorola from then until May 2005.
When Zafirovski was chosen to head up Nortel Networks in early October, Motorola filed a suit against him, alleging that his new position would break the terms of the non-disclosure agreement he had signed. Nortel agreed to pay $11.5 million to settle the suit.[5] Zafirovski became the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nortel Networks, replacing Bill Owens as of November 15, 2005.
He was elected to the Board of Directors at Boeing on October 25, 2004.[6]
[edit] References
- ^ Mike Zafirovski: CEO of Nortel Networks Corporation. PA State System of Higher Education website. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
- ^ McLean, Catherine. Mr. Fix-It takes on his biggest challenge. globeandmail.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
- ^ All Medalists 1986-2000. NECO website. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
- ^ Mutschler, Ann. Motorola President, COO Zafirovski to Resign. EDN.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
- ^ McMillan, Robert. Motorola, Nortel settle Zafirovski dispute. infoworld.com. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
- ^ Motorola's Mike Zafirovski Elected to Boeing Board of Directors. Boeing Press Releases. Retrieved on 2006-09-5.
| Preceded by: Edward Breen |
COO of Motorola 2002–2005 |
Succeeded by: - |
| Preceded by: Bill Owens |
CEOs of Nortel Networks 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
