Six Qualcomm Directors, Including CEO, Get Less Than 50% Re-Election Vote
March 23 2018 - 4:39PM
Dow Jones News
By David Benoit and Ted Greenwald
Six of Qualcomm Inc.'s directors, including Chief Executive
Steve Mollenkopf, failed to win support from a majority of the
company's shares Friday, a significant protest vote that signals
investor discontent after the chip-making giant successfully
rebuffed a hostile takeover from Broadcom Ltd.
At the company's annual meeting in San Diego, just 40% to 50% of
the total shares outstanding were voted in favor of the six
directors, with the other four getting more than 50%, according to
a person familiar with the count.
An 11th director, former Chairman Paul Jacobs, wasn't nominated
to stand for re-election after a dispute with other board members
over his desire to make a bid for the company and other
matters.
All the directors will remain on the board since they were
running unopposed after the U.S. government blocked Broadcom's bid,
and by extension its six-member slate of nominees. The vote count
for the originally scheduled meeting that would have pitted the
Broadcom slate against Qualcomm's nominees showed Broadcom winning
at least four seats and with a path to get up to six, people
familiar with the matter have said.
The latest numbers are preliminary -- a tally will be disclosed
next week -- and subject to change.
Qualcomm investors had raised concerns about the company's
performance and how it handled Broadcom's $117 billion takeover
offer -- with anxiety over the latter stoked by the revelation that
Qualcomm had prompted the government review that led to the order
from President Donald Trump blocking the deal. Institutional
Shareholder Services Inc. advised investors to continue to vote for
Broadcom's nominees even though they couldn't be elected, as a sign
of protest.
While no one will be forced off the board by Friday's vote, such
a lack of support for directors often increases pressure on
companies to make changes.
Write to David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com and Ted Greenwald
at Ted.Greenwald@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 23, 2018 16:24 ET (20:24 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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