Former Qualcomm CEO to Lead Company Powering Apple’s Satellite-Text Service

livemint.com:

alliance with Xcom, will license that and other technology from the startup. Globalstarhas agreed to issue about 60 million shares of common stock, worth some $64 million, to Xcom as a licensingfee. Globalstar has a market value of about $1.9 billion, as of Monday’s market close.

Shares of Globalstar rose almost 24% to $1.31 in midday trading. The satellite company has also hired a number of Xcom executives, including some former Qualcomm executives, to join Jacobs. Some of the Xcom executives contributed years ago to the development of the original Globalstar system through their work at Qualcomm, said Jay Monroe, who has been Globalstar chairman since 2004 when his private-equity firm bought the company out from bankruptcy.

The combination of Globalstar’s spectrum holdings and its satellite fleet, along with Xcom’s capacity-boosting technology, will help the company gain ground in powering private networks for mission-critical applications, Jacobs said. “That is like having another piece of the differentiation puzzle," said Jacobs. Jacobs said he took the Globalstar job because it seemed like a good cultural fit, adding that running a midsize company was appealing.

Jacobs, who will also join Globalstar’s board, succeeds David Kagan, who took over as the company’s chief executive in 2018. Jacobs has a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science and has over 80 U.S. patents in the field of wireless technology and devices.