 "Qualcomm board meets to discuss Paul Jacobs")
Qualcomm’s board met Friday to discuss the fate of director Paul Jacobs, the former CEO and son of the company’s founder, the Wall Street Journal reported, without citing its sources.
Jacobs, who was stripped of his executive chairman status last week, has been seeking investors for a management buyout of Qualcomm, according to the Financial Times. The idea has been been largely dismissed by analysts, because it would be expensive and could by blocked by the US government, like Broadcom’s failed bid for Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s board is discussing Jacobs in a regularly scheduled meeting, and could make an announcement later Friday, the Journal reported.
The board may decide not to take any action now, the newspaper added. A spokeswoman for Qualcomm didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Jacobs was already in a precarious position with the board after a lengthy battle to fend off Broadcom. Early counts in a board vote tied to the Broadcom bid showed that many Qualcomm shareholders had voted to replace several Qualcomm directors, including Jacobs and CEO Steve Mollenkopf.
US President Donald Trump blocked the deal earlier this week. Jacobs has informed its board of directors that he will seek to partner with investment firms to make an offer for the US semiconductor company, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Jacobs’ attempt to put together an offer comes just a few days after Qualcomm fended off a $117 billion hostile bid from Singapore-based rival Broadcom. Qualcomm does not view Jacobs’ attempt to put together a buyout bid as credible, the sources said. Jacobs has held talks with several investment firms, including SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund, but has so far been unable to secure the necessary financing, the three sources added.
Jacobs is attempting to put together the largest leveraged buyout of all time, three times as large as the $45 billion buyout of Texas power utility Energy Future Holdings, which ended in bankruptcy. Even if SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications group with technology investments around the world, wanted to join Jacobs’ bid, it could face conflicts given its ownership of British chip designer ARM Holdings, the sources said. Adding to the potential conflicts, Qualcomm is an investor in the Vision Fund.
Jacobs, who was stripped of his executive chairman status last week, has been seeking investors for a management buyout of Qualcomm, according to the Financial Times. The idea has been been largely dismissed by analysts, because it would be expensive and could by blocked by the US government, like Broadcom’s failed bid for Qualcomm. Qualcomm’s board is discussing Jacobs in a regularly scheduled meeting, and could make an announcement later Friday, the Journal reported.
The board may decide not to take any action now, the newspaper added. A spokeswoman for Qualcomm didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
Jacobs was already in a precarious position with the board after a lengthy battle to fend off Broadcom. Early counts in a board vote tied to the Broadcom bid showed that many Qualcomm shareholders had voted to replace several Qualcomm directors, including Jacobs and CEO Steve Mollenkopf.
US President Donald Trump blocked the deal earlier this week. Jacobs has informed its board of directors that he will seek to partner with investment firms to make an offer for the US semiconductor company, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Jacobs’ attempt to put together an offer comes just a few days after Qualcomm fended off a $117 billion hostile bid from Singapore-based rival Broadcom. Qualcomm does not view Jacobs’ attempt to put together a buyout bid as credible, the sources said. Jacobs has held talks with several investment firms, including SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund, but has so far been unable to secure the necessary financing, the three sources added.
Jacobs is attempting to put together the largest leveraged buyout of all time, three times as large as the $45 billion buyout of Texas power utility Energy Future Holdings, which ended in bankruptcy. Even if SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications group with technology investments around the world, wanted to join Jacobs’ bid, it could face conflicts given its ownership of British chip designer ARM Holdings, the sources said. Adding to the potential conflicts, Qualcomm is an investor in the Vision Fund.
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