Qualcomm’s investors re-elected the board at a shareholders meeting that would have been dramatically different had the largest proposed acquisition in technology industry history not been stopped, according to Bloomberg.
Ten directors, including CEO Steve Mollenkopf, were elected unopposed at a meeting rescheduled in the midst of Qualcomm’s successful four-month effort to fight off a hostile takeover by Broadcom. The results are preliminary with a full tally due in a few days, Chairman Jeff Henderson said at the meeting.
The world’s largest maker of chips for mobile phones is struggling with the fallout from the proposed acquisition, which was blocked earlier this month by an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump. Even with Broadcom’s bid derailed, Qualcomm faces the same issues that have driven down its stock and made it a target, costly legal battles with regulators and key customer Apple over the chipmaker’s lucrative licensing business and the loss of market share for its products.
The most immediate issue for the board is the delay of Qualcomm’s purchase of NXP Semiconductors, which has dragged on through regulator scrutiny for more than a year and is still being looked at by Chinese authorities. NXP is crucial to Qualcomm’s plan to diversify its sources of revenue into automotive chips.
Hanging over the company is its licensing dispute with Apple. The two are locked in a web of lawsuits that may take years to resolve. Apple’s withholding payments is costing Qualcomm about $2 billion a year in revenue. Regulators also have fined the company after accusing it of abusing its market-leading position in mobile chips.
Investors say the legal fights create too much uncertainty in modeling its earnings, causing a drag on the stock price. Jacobs, son of company founder Irwin Jacobs and its former chief executive officer, is exploring a way to take Qualcomm private, a move that would remove it from the short-term scrutiny of being a public company. Jacobs’ effort to raise the more that $120 billion needed may prove difficult.
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