Cristiano Amon was named CEO of Qualcomm on Tuesday.
Courtesy Qualcomm Incorporated
Wireless chipmaker Qualcomm on Tuesday made the surprise announcement that Christiano Amon will succeed Steve Mollenkopf as the company’s CEO, effective June 30. Mollenkopf is retiring after 26 years at Qualcomm. Amon is currently president of the company, which he joined in 1995.
Amon in recent months has been Qualcomm’s (ticker: QCOM) chief evangelist for the move to 5G wireless technology; Barron’s interviewed him on that topic in a magazine Q&A in May 2020. An energetic Brazilian with a beard, Amon is well-known and well-regarded on Wall Street.
The move is unlikely to raise issues for investors, though there likely will be questions about the reasons for Mollenkopf’s relatively early retirement. Mollenkopf, 52, became Qualcomm’s CEO in March 2014.
“I am immensely proud of all that we have accomplished at Qualcomm and the position the company currently enjoys as the world’s leader in wireless technologies,” Mollenkopf said in a statement. “With our business model clearly validated and our leadership in 5G, this is the right time for Cristiano to assume leadership of the company and preside over what I see as the single largest opportunity in the company’s history. Cristiano spearheaded the development of our 5G strategy, including its acceleration, industry-leading technology roadmap and global rollout.”
Amon, 50, has been president since January 2018. He joined Qualcomm more than 25 years ago as an engineer. Amon holds a B.S. in electrical engineering and an honorary doctorate from UNICAMP, the State University of Campinas, Brazil.
“I am honored to be named the next CEO of Qualcomm and appreciate the confidence that Steve and the Board have in me,” Amon said in a statement. “In addition to driving the expansion of 5G into mainstream devices and beyond mobile, Qualcomm is set to play a key role in the digital transformation of numerous industries as our technologies become essential to connecting everything to the cloud.”
Qualcomm shares are up 2.6% to $152.43 on Tuesday morning, outpacing the S&P 500’s gain of 0.3%. The stock rallied 89% in 2020.
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
