SAN DIEGO _ Qualcomm director Paul Jacobs has reportedly informed the company's board of directors that he intends to partner with investment firms to make an offer to buy the semiconductor giant based in San Diego.
Jacobs made his intentions known to the company's directors in a letter sent on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal, but the specifics of how he might put together such an ambitious plan are unclear.
Qualcomm's board has a regularly scheduled meeting on Friday and, media reports say, Jacobs' fate will be a topic of discussion. An announcement could be made by the end of the business day, although the board is under no requirement to make any immediate moves.
The news of the reported plan to take Qualcomm private comes just days after President Donald Trump quashed a hostile takeover bid by tech rival Broadcom.
In an order released earlier this week, the Trump administration called off the $117 billion offer, citing national security concerns as well as worries that a Broadcom takeover could jeopardize the competitive edge U.S. companies like Qualcomm have established in the tech space. Broadcom's international headquarters is located in Singapore.
Should Jacobs, the son of Qualcomm co-founder Irwin Jacobs, co-ordinate a credible offer he would need to secure an extraordinary amount of financing, analysts said.
Jacobs has been in discussions with a number of investment firms, including SoftBank Group Corp's Vision Fund, a Japanese telecommunications group. But according to sources cited by Fox Business News, Jacobs has not yet been able to secure the necessary funding from SoftBank.
The potential deal has been described by some as a long shot. Jacobs holds a small percentage of Qualcomm _ just 0.13 percent.
Jacobs took over as the company's chief executive in 2005, succeeding his father, and passed the responsibilities onto current CEO Steve Mollenkopf in 2014. Jacobs was stripped of his title as executive chairman earlier this month. Fellow board member Jeffrey Henderson was named non-executive chairman.
Some shareholders have been critical of the company's management, saying Qualcomm has under-performed in comparison to other firms in the tech sector.
