Paul Liska next up at bat as Motorola Chief Financial Officer

Talk about a tough road ahead. This guy’s got a doozy of a mess to clean up when he takes his position as Motorola (NYSE: MOT)’s Chief Financial Officer this March 1st. We’re talking, of course, about Paul Liska, the replacement for Motorola’s interim CFO Tom Meredith.

Liska should bring something of a fresh outlook on Moto’s troubled finances. Many believed that Motorola’s next CFO would come from within the company, but it seems that Motorola wanted to look for a new face to try and drive their ship toward more profitable waters. Liska comes from outside the company and has pulled financial-duty with the likes of Sears and private equity firms. Maybe this sort of executive change-up is exactly what the troubled handset manufacturer needs.

That’s not to say that Meredith did a bad job as the head money-guy at Motorola. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Jim Suva, a Citigroup analyst, praised Meredith for helping plug the leaky hole that is the Good Ship Motorola. Remember that positive Q4 report? Yea, that’s all Meredith right there.

Paul Liska’s private-equity background could also bring insight into Motorola’s possible handset division sell-off. Although, we’d think the company’s most pressing concern would be to put their house back in order – you know, curb appeal can really increase selling price.

[Via: RCRNews]