Board Announces New CEO at QUALCOMM, Inc. (QCOM)

Early on Friday morning, Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) announced that its board of directors has approved an executive management succession plan.

Steven Mollenkopf will be QCOM’s new CEO and will also sit on the board of directors effective March 4, 2014 following the company’s 2014 annual meeting of stockholders. Until that time, Mollenkopf will continue to serve as the president of the company. Mollenkopf has been with Qualcomm for nearly 20 years and has worked in a number of roles at the company, including leading the chipset business. Another change that will take place on March 4 is that former CEO Dr. Paul E. Jacobs will become the executive chairman of the company.

Mollenkopf had the following to say about his promotion: ”I am honored to have been chosen by the board to lead Qualcomm into the next exciting era of the Company. Qualcomm’s focus on execution in product and technology development has helped to establish us as a leader in wireless with our partners. I look forward to working with our executive team and our employees in driving growth for our Company and the entire mobile ecosystem as it transitions to 4G and beyond.”

Qualcomm stock was down a fraction in pre-market trading. YTD, the company’s stock is up 12.32%.