'That was an unprecedented event,' Qualcomm CEO looks back at Broadcom's hostile takeover attack

In March 2018, an attempt by Broadcom, a leading semiconductor maker, to hostively acquire Qualcomm of the same company with over 100 billion dollars (about 11 trillion yen) was the result of President Donald Trump 's President' It was blocked by decree. In this interview, Qualcomm's CEO, Stephen Molenkov, who was under attack, was "an unprecedented event" on Bloomberg's interview with the purchasing plays that even possibly shook the semiconductor industry not only in the United States but also worldwide I look back on with.

Qualcomm CEO Calls Blocked Broadcom Bid 'Unprecedented' - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2018-09-26/qualcomm-ceo-calls-blocked-broadcom-bid-unprecedented-video

You can see how Molenkov looks back then in the following movie.


Mr. Molenkov, who was asked by Bloomberg's reporter "Is there a hostile takeover attack from Broadcom, the White House stopped it, how did you create a flow?"

"I spent a lot of time listening to frank opinions from shareholders." In this situation, he says that "uncertainty" is the biggest problem, I recall that Qualcomm's board of directors demonstrated the wisdom of acting extremely cautiously against the situation. Mr. Molenkov also said that if the deal was not successful, Qualcomm would be largely behind Broadcom due to the 5 G technology that is expected to develop in the future, and the US will eventually demonstrate its superiority in the 5 G world It also states that there was a possibility that it could not be done.

In fact, it was also seen that Broadcom's acquisition plays a major influence on future mobile communication technology in the world. Broadcom is a company based in the United States, but at that time its head office was located in Singapore. For this reason, the truth of this is that President Cardin and White House, concerned about the outflow of mobile communication technology due to the acquisition of Qualcomm, pitched the acquisition for political judgment.

The thought of the Trump regime that prevented Broadcom's acquisition of Qualcomm - all for 5G - CNET Japan
https://www.cnet.com/article/35116277/

Moreskoff, who was questioned about the result as "CEO, what kind of feeling did you think it was natural, did you think that he won, or was he relieved?", "How can I respond I did not know, it was an unprecedented unprecedented event indeed, it was not an unprecedented event, there was no script, "he says that he was forced to steer in difficult situations. For Mr. Molenkov who made a decision as a CEO of a huge company, it seems that it was a very big event to become a party to the acquisition plays involving the world of politics like this time, which may affect national interests.

Molenkov says that there was a mentality to decide where Qualcomm would be the leader in 5G worldwide in the background. "To be honest, there is no one who can understand all the events that occurred at the time," and I am looking back on the fact that things were progressing in a tightrope-like situation.

Qualcomm is overcoming the attack of Broadcom, but on the other hand feud with Apple continued. Both companies have entered a battle of litigation with compensation of 100 billion yen, and it is a condition not to install Qualcomm's modem (communication chip) in iPhone XS / XS Max, the situation which is not easy for Qualcomm will continue for a while It is also seen.

"IPhone that appeared in 2018 exclusively uses Intel modem," Qualcomm executives reveal - GIGAZINE