Wireless technology giant Qualcomm (QCOM) this morning announced its former CEO Paul Jacobs will pass the chairman title to independent director Jeffrey W. Henderson, saying it wanted to have a non-executive chairman.
Henderson has served on the board since 2016. Jacobs, son of founder Irwin Jacobs, will continue to sit on the board but will not have an executive management role.
The shift comes amidst a continued war of words between the company and Broadcom (AVGO), which is pursuing a hostile takeover of Qualcomm. Yesterday, Broadcom filed an infographic pertaining to Qualcomm's involvement with Chinese companies, Wednesday pledging to "focus" R&D spending on top priorities at Qualcomm, which had followed a damning letter released Tuesday by Qualcomm from the U.S. Treasury department raising concerns about Broadcom's approach of cutting investments.
Qualcomm's lead director, Tom Horton, remarked that the company "believes that having an independent director as Chairman at this important juncture in Qualcomm's history is in the best interest of the Company and our stockholders." He thanked extensively for many years of contributions and offered gratitude "to have Paul's continued contributions as a member of the Board."
This morning's bit follows Qualcomm announcement yesterday, after market close, that it was raising its dividend, and reminded investors of its pending deal to buy NXP Semiconductors (NXPI). Qualcomm said in a separate release this morning that it is extending the tender offer for NXP to 5 pm on March 16th. Qualcomm has been in the process of buying NXP for over a year.
Qualcomm shares are up 38 cents, or 0.6%, at $62.20.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
