ON Semiconductor's origin story begins not with a garage startup but with a corporate divestiture that became one of the most successful semiconductor spin-offs in history. In 1999, Motorola Corporation spun off its Semiconductor Products Sector (SPS)—a division established in 1955 that had invented the 6800 microprocessor in 1974, developed the PowerPC processor, and created the first integrated RF transceiver—into a separate publicly traded company called ON Semiconductor. The new company was headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, and inherited a broad portfolio of discrete, analog, and mixed-signal semiconductor products, along with manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The early years were challenging. As a spin-off from a larger parent, ON Semiconductor lacked the brand recognition and financial resources of established competitors like Texas Instruments and Analog Devices. The dot-com crash of 2001 hit the semiconductor industry hard, and ON Semiconductor—heavily exposed to communications and consumer markets—struggled to maintain profitability. The company's stock price languished, and management focused on cost reduction and operational efficiency rather than growth. The turning point came through a series of strategic acquisitions that transformed ON Semiconductor from a mid-tier commodity supplier into a diversified power and sensing leader. In 2006, the company acquired LSI Logic's consumer and computing products division, adding custom ASIC capabilities. In 2008, it acquired Catalyst Semiconductor, expanding its portfolio of analog and memory products. In 2010, it acquired California Micro Devices, adding protection and filtering products for mobile devices. In 2011, it acquired SANYO Semiconductor, gaining significant manufacturing capacity in Japan and a foothold in the automotive and industrial markets. But the transformative acquisition was Fairchild Semiconductor in 2016. ON Semiconductor paid $2.4 billion in cash—approximately $20 per share—to acquire Fairchild, a pioneer in power semiconductors that had been founded in 1957 and had invented the planar transistor and the integrated circuit. The acquisition created a top-10 non-memory semiconductor supplier with almost $5 billion in pro forma revenue and a comprehensive power management portfolio. Management projected $160 million in annual cost savings by the end of 2017, $200 million by 2018, and $225 million by 2019. The integration was successful, and ON Semiconductor emerged as a major player in power semiconductors with industry-leading cost structure. In 2020, the company appointed Hassane El-Khoury as president and CEO. El-Khoury had immigrated to the United States from Lebanon at age 17, earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from Lawrence Technological University and an M.S. in engineering management from Oakland University, and spent 13 years at Cypress Semiconductor rising from application engineer to CEO. At Cypress, he had transformed the company from a struggling commodity memory supplier into a focused automotive and IoT semiconductor leader, culminating in its $9.3 billion acquisition by Infineon in April 2020. At ON Semiconductor, El-Khoury applied the same playbook: focus on high-margin, differentiated products; deepen automotive customer relationships; and invest in secular growth markets. He launched the "Fab Right" strategy to optimize the manufacturing footprint, pivoted the product portfolio toward silicon carbide power semiconductors for EVs, and positioned the company for the AI data center power opportunity. The results have been significant. Revenue grew from $5.26 billion in 2020 to a peak of $8.33 billion in 2022, a 58% increase in two years. Non-GAAP operating margin expanded from the mid-teens to over 32%. Free cash flow surged from negative territory to $1.21 billion in 2024. And the company's market capitalization grew from approximately $8 billion at the start of El-Khoury's tenure to $22.5 billion by April 2025. The 2024 downturn tested this progress. Revenue fell 14.2% as automotive and industrial demand softened. But the company's structural improvements—Fab Right manufacturing, portfolio rationalization, and capital discipline—allowed it to generate $1.21 billion in free cash flow despite the revenue decline, a performance that would have been impossible in the pre-El-Khoury era.