BP vs Qualcomm: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BP and Qualcomm side by side

1. 1901BP

   D'Arcy Persian Concession

   William Knox D'Arcy obtains a 60-year oil concession from the Shah of Persia covering about 480,000 square miles, roughly three-quarters of the country, in exchange for £20,000 in cash, £20,000 in shares and 16% of annual profits.

2. 1908BP

   Discovery of Oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman

   After seven years of expensive and largely unsuccessful drilling, field manager George Reynolds strikes oil at Masjid-i-Suleiman in south-west Persia on May 26, 1908. It is the first commercial oil discovery in the Middle East.

3. 1909BP

   Anglo-Persian Oil Company Incorporated

   The Anglo-Persian Oil Company is formally incorporated in April 1909, with William Knox D'Arcy and the Burmah Oil Company as principal backers.

4. 1914BP

   British Government Acquires 51% Stake

   At the urging of Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, the British government pays ~$2.9 million (£2.2 million) for a 51% stake in Anglo-Persian and signs a long-term fuel-oil supply contract for the Royal Navy, which is converting its fleet from coa…

5. 1954BP

   Renamed British Petroleum

   Following the 1953 resolution of the Iranian nationalization crisis and the Shah's restoration to power, the company renames itself British Petroleum Company.

6. 1970BP

   North Sea Forties Field Discovery

   BP discovers the Forties field in the UK North Sea, one of the largest oil fields ever found in British waters. Together with Alaska's Prudhoe Bay, it gives BP politically secure production just as Middle Eastern governments take control of their oil.

7. 1985Qualcomm

   Qualcomm Founded

   Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi, and five colleagues found Qualcomm Incorporated in San Diego, California, initially operating as a telecommunications consulting and research firm from a converted restaurant building.

8. 1987BP

   UK Government Privatization Complete

   The Thatcher government completes the privatization of its remaining 31.5% stake in BP through a global share offering timed for October 1987 weeks before the global stock market crash known as Black Monday disrupted the sale and left underwriters with unsold…

9. 1988Qualcomm

   OmniTRACS Commercial Launch

   Qualcomm commercially launches OmniTRACS, a satellite-based two-way messaging and positioning system for long-haul trucking that becomes the company's first profitable product and funds ongoing CDMA research.

10. 1989Qualcomm

    First Live CDMA Demonstration

    Qualcomm conducts its first outdoor live CDMA demonstration in San Diego, proving the technology works in real-world conditions and attracting serious attention from U.S. Cellular carriers and equipment manufacturers.

11. 1991Qualcomm

    Initial Public Offering

    Qualcomm goes public on the Nasdaq Stock Market in December 1991, raising approximately $43 million at $16 per share in an IPO that gives the company capital to accelerate CDMA commercialization.

12. 1993Qualcomm

    IS-95 CDMA Standard Adopted

    The Telecommunications Industry Association formally adopts IS-95, a CDMA standard based substantially on Qualcomm's technology, as an approved digital cellular standard in the United States validating the company's decade-long technological bet.

13. 1995Qualcomm

    First Commercial CDMA Network Launched

    Sprint PCS launches the first commercial CDMA cellular network in the United States, using Qualcomm-based technology and marking the beginning of large-scale commercial deployment that would define U.S. Wireless infrastructure for the next twenty years.

14. 1998BP

    Merger with Amoco Corporation

    BP merges with Chicago-based Amoco Corporation in a deal valued at approximately $48.2 billion the largest industrial merger in history at the time.

15. 1999Qualcomm

    Strategic Exit from Infrastructure and Handsets

    Qualcomm sells its network infrastructure division to Ericsson and its handset manufacturing business to Kyocera, focusing the company entirely on chip design and patent licensing a strategic concentration that defines its business model to the present day.

16. 2000BP

    Beyond Petroleum Rebrand

    Under then-CEO Sir John Browne, BP launches the 'Beyond Petroleum' rebranding campaign, introducing the sunflower logo still in use today and publicly positioning the company as an energy company committed to addressing climate change.

17. 2007Qualcomm

    Snapdragon Platform Introduction

    Qualcomm introduces the Snapdragon brand for its mobile system-on-chip processors, establishing a consumer-facing identity for its mobile silicon that would become synonymous with premium Android smartphone performance over the following decade.

18. 2010BP

    Deepwater Horizon Disaster

    The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig, operating on the Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico under contract to BP, suffers a catastrophic blowout on April 20, 2010, killing 11 workers and triggering the largest marine oil spill in US history approximately 4.9 milli…

19. 2019Qualcomm

    Apple Settlement and Licensing Agreement

    Following years of contentious litigation, Qualcomm and Apple reach a global settlement in April 2019 covering all pending litigation worldwide, with Apple agreeing to a multi-year chip supply deal and a licensing arrangement reportedly involving back payments…

20. 2020BP

    Net-Zero Commitment and Dividend Cut

    Under new CEO Bernard Looney, BP sets a net-zero ambition for 2050 and, in August 2020, pledges to cut oil and gas production by 40% by 2030 and raise low-carbon investment to about $5 billion a year.

21. 2021Qualcomm

    Nuvia Acquisition

    Qualcomm acquires Nuvia, a CPU startup founded by former Apple Silicon architects, for approximately $1.4 billion, bringing custom CPU design capabilities in-house that power the Oryon cores in Snapdragon 8 Elite and Snapdragon X Elite PC chips.

22. 2023Qualcomm

    Snapdragon X Elite PC Platform Launch

    Qualcomm launches the Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus platforms for Windows PCs, powering Microsoft's Copilot+ PC initiative and marking the company's most significant push into personal computing since the failed Snapdragon 835 PC effort in 2017.

23. 2024BP

    Auchincloss Confirmed as CEO

    Murray Auchincloss, BP's CFO since 2020 and interim chief since Bernard Looney's September 2023 exit, is confirmed as permanent CEO in January 2024.

24. 2024Qualcomm

    Snapdragon 8 Elite Launch

    Qualcomm launches the Snapdragon 8 Elite, its first phone chip with custom Oryon CPU cores, built on TSMC's 3nm process.

25. 2025BP

    Strategy Reset and Bumerangue Discovery

    In February 2025 BP cuts planned transition investment to $1.5-2 billion a year, raises upstream spending to about $10 billion a year and targets $20 billion of divestments and $14-18 billion of net debt by 2027.

26. 2025BP

    CEO Change and Castrol Sale Agreed

    On December 17, 2025 BP says Murray Auchincloss will step down and names Woodside Energy CEO Meg O'Neill as his successor from April 2026, with Carol Howle as interim CEO.

27. 2025Qualcomm

    Alphawave Semi Acquisition Completed

    Qualcomm completes its roughly $2.4B purchase of Alphawave Semi to accelerate data center connectivity products.

28. 2026BP

    O'Neill Takes Over and Simplifies BP

    Meg O'Neill becomes CEO on April 1, 2026. The board removes chair Albert Manifold on May 26 over governance and conduct concerns and names Ian Tyler interim chair, confirming him as permanent chair on September 2.

29. 2026Qualcomm

    Q2 FY2026 Results and $20B Buyback Authorization

    Qualcomm reports Q2 FY2026 revenue of $10.599B, record quarterly QCT automotive revenue, 20% year-over-year growth in combined QCT automotive and IoT revenue, and a new $20B repurchase authorization.

30. 2026Qualcomm

    Q3 FY2026 Results and $40B Non-Handset Target

    Qualcomm reports Q3 FY2026 revenue of $9.9B (down 4%), automotive revenue up 61% to $1.6B, and raises its FY2029 non-handset revenue target to $40B.

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