Qualcomm’s ten-man board of directors was re-elected on Friday, having faced no opposition after Broadcom’s attempted coup was stopped by President Trump earlier this month. The San Diego, California-based company confirmed the outcome of the vote but hasn’t provided more details on the matter, with Reuters previously reporting the preliminary results showed some directors received less than 50-percent of all possible votes. Qualcomm Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf is said to be one such board member, with the results themselves showing uncharacteristically weak investor support for an opposition-less re-election. The development is understood to be a reflection of the failed Broadcom merger many stakeholders have been pushing for, having reportedly arrived on the verge of being able to replace six of the company’s board members with Broadcom’s own nominees who were prepared to vote to sell the company.
While Qualcomm ended up resisting the hostile takeover attempt, many industry analysts believe it wouldn’t have been able to do so without the intervention from the White House, with the episode hence suggesting the chipmaker is still weak to unsolicited bids. Going forward, the company may attempt a major share buyback initiative in order to strengthen its ability to endure advances from unwanted suitors, with such a move also previously being presented as a plan B for creating additional near-term shareholder value in case the NXP Semiconductors bid isn’t able to be completed.
Qualcomm’s attempted tie-up with the Dutch semiconductor firm has been in the making for nearly a year and a half now and is still being blocked by China, with Beijing supposedly pushing for more protections for its own vendors before approving it. The Far Eastern country’s largest tech company is also understood to have had a stake in the Qualcomm-Broadcom race, with some industry watchers and one of U.S. Treasury Department’s own panels claiming Huawei would have an opportunity to seize global leadership in 5G and a number of other segments if the merger was completed. According to those accounts, Broadcom was likely to cut Qualcomm’s R&D funding following a hypothetical consolidation, which would allow Huawei and other rivals to catch up to the chipmaker with their own technologies.