Qualcomm’s new CEO is uniquely qualified to lead company forward

Qualcomm, already the leader in mobile chipset implementation, has a new CEO. A family business since being founded in part by Dr. Irwin Jacobs 28 years ago, Steve Mollenkopf has been with the company for most of that — 20 years. He has held many titles in his tenure, and will be the first guy without the last name Jacobs to hold the title of CEO.

Paul E Jacobs succeeded his father at the helm, and is now handing the reigns over to Mollenkopf. Jacobs will remain on as Executive Chairman of the Board. In announcing the new CEO, Jacobs said “Steve and I have worked together for a number of years and I am delighted that he will be Qualcomm’s next CEO. I’m passionate about new technologies and the possibilities that mobile holds in enabling the ways people live, work and play. I look forward to being able to place my focus on bringing more game-changing technologies to fruition.”

Mollenkopf (on the right in the picture up top) said “I couldn’t be more honored and energized to lead the Company through these exciting times”. If by exciting he means mobile, he’s right — and very much the right pick to be CEO at this time in the company’s lineage. Mollenkopf was at the helm of the chipset division during the recent insurgence of mobile chipsets from Qualcomm, including the Snapdragon processors that have become ubiquitous in Android devices. He’s led Qualcomm through many major mobile changes, including LTE and the expansion of CDMA.

The new CEO also holds several patents pertaining to power measurement and wireless communication. His role as CEO was unanimously approved by the board in December of last year, and his time as CEO starts today. As Qualcomm leads us into a new age of mobile SoCs and other intriguing technology, they’ve implemented a leader uniquely qualified to do so.