Some changes were announced at the helm of Qualcomm today. Effective today, Chief Operations Officer Steve Mollenkopf has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer-elect of Qualcomm, and appointed to its Board of Directors. He will become CEO on March 4, 2014, after the company’s 2014 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. He will also continue to serve as the Company’s President. He replaces current CEO Paul Jacobs who will become Executive Chairman.
“Qualcomm’s board of directors is responsible for ensuring the continuity of the Company’s senior leadership and that the executive team possesses the experience, skills and character required to achieve the Company’s goals. With today’s announcement, we enable a smooth transition to a proven executive in Steve Mollenkopf, while providing for ongoing executive guidance and Board-level leadership from Paul Jacobs. Qualcomm’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the appointment of Steve Mollenkopf to the board of directors and his transition to CEO. We have the highest degree of confidence that his leadership will further expand Qualcomm’s impressive record of innovation and continued stockholder value creation,” said Sherry Lansing, Presiding Director of Qualcomm’s Board of Directors and chair of its Governance Committee.
Just yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was considering Mollenkopf as its nex CEO. Whether Qualcomm announced the promotion to hang on to the executive or if the timing of the announcement is purely coincidental is not known.
Qualcomm has established itself as a dominant player in the mobile space thanks to its processors, including the recent Snapragon 805 and Snapdragon 410, and patent licensing agreements used in modern smartphones and other mobile devices. It also recently launched its first smartwatch, the Qualcomm Toq.
Source : Qualcomm