ICICI Bank vs Qualcomm: Founders, CEOs and History
ICICI Bank was founded in 1994 by Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India and is led by Sandeep Bakhshi. Qualcomm was founded in 1985 by Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and is led by Cristiano Amon.
Company facts
ICICI Bank
- Founded
- 1994
- Headquarters
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Current CEO
- Sandeep Bakhshi
- Employees
- 124,029
Qualcomm
- Founded
- 1985
- Headquarters
- San Diego, California
- Current CEO
- Cristiano Amon
- Employees
- 52,000
Founders
ICICI Bank
Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) was established in 1955 at the initiative of the World Bank, the Government of India, and representatives of Indian industry.
Qualcomm
Irwin Jacobs
Irwin Jacobs is an American electrical engineer who co-founded Qualcomm and was its first CEO. He had been a professor at UC San Diego and had co-founded Linkabit.
Andrew Viterbi
Andrew Viterbi brought the deepest technical credentials of Qualcomm's founding team, combining top academic training in communications theory with practical experience in defense and commercial digital systems.
CEOs and their tenures
ICICI Bank
- K V Kamath1996–2009
CEO & Managing Director
Kamath built ICICI's reputation for technology-led banking, early ATMs, internet banking, and retail credit, and oversaw the 2002 reverse merger that created the modern bank.
Source - Chanda Kochhar2009–2018
CEO & Managing Director
Kochhar expanded ICICI Bank's retail franchise and brand reach, but her tenure ended amid the Videocon controversy and a sharp rise in bad corporate loans.
Source - Sandeep Bakhshi2018–present
Managing Director & CEO
Bakhshi is credited with restoring investor and regulator trust after 2018 and turning ICICI Bank into a lower-risk, steadily compounding lender, with net NPAs around 0.3% in 2026.
Source
Qualcomm
- Steve Mollenkopf2013–2021
Chief Executive Officer
As CEO, he navigated the company through brutal antitrust litigation with Apple and the FTC, securing the critical 5G licensing agreements that stabilized Qualcomm's revenue model.
Source - Akash Palkhiwala2019–present
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer
As CFO, he executed massive share repurchase programs and maintained strong gross margins despite extreme volatility in global smartphone demand.
Source - Cristiano Amon2021–present
President and Chief Executive Officer
Cristiano Amon, a Brazilian electrical engineer, joined Qualcomm in 1995 and led its QCT chip business and president role before becoming CEO on June 30, 2021, succeeding Steve Mollenkopf.
Source
Timeline: ICICI Bank and Qualcomm side by side
1955ICICI Bank
ICICI Founded as Development-Finance Institution
ICICI was formed to provide medium- and long-term project finance to Indian businesses.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
1994ICICI Bank
ICICI Bank Incorporated
ICICI Bank was incorporated as part of the ICICI group during India's post-liberalization banking opening. The move gave ICICI a deposit-taking commercial bank able to serve retail, corporate, and transaction-banking customers.
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.
1999ICICI Bank
NYSE Listing Milestone
ICICI became the first Indian company and the first bank or financial institution from non-Japan Asia to list on the New York Stock Exchange. The listing expanded global visibility and imposed a higher disclosure profile on the group.
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.
2001ICICI Bank
Bank of Madura Amalgamation
Bank of Madura was amalgamated with ICICI Bank with effect from March 10, 2001. The deal added branches, customers, and a southern India presence that helped the young bank build distribution faster than organic expansion alone.
2002ICICI Bank
Reverse Merger Created Universal Bank
ICICI, ICICI Personal Financial Services, and ICICI Capital Services merged into ICICI Bank.
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.
2010ICICI Bank
Bank of Rajasthan Merger
The Bank of Rajasthan merger strengthened ICICI Bank's branch network, especially in northern and western India. The transaction mattered because local branches and deposits still supported private-bank scale even as digital channels were growing.
2018ICICI Bank
Sandeep Bakhshi Became MD and CEO
Sandeep Bakhshi became Managing Director and CEO in October 2018 after Chanda Kochhar requested early retirement. His tenure has been associated with a sharper focus on risk controls, asset quality, governance, and steady retail-led growth.
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…
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.
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.
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.
2025ICICI Bank
FY2025 Balance Sheet Scale
The FY2025 integrated report listed Rs 16,103.48B in deposits, Rs 13,417.66B in loans and advances, Rs 21,182.40B in standalone total assets, and a 16.55% capital adequacy ratio.
2025ICICI Bank
FY2025 Profitability
ICICI Bank reported Rs 472.27B in standalone profit after tax and Rs 510.29B in consolidated profit after tax for FY2025. Profitability matters because the bank has to fund technology, compliance, provisions, and growth while keeping capital strong.
2025ICICI Bank
IMobile and Card Scale
IMobile processed 558M transactions worth Rs 11,238B in FY2025, and the bank had close to 18M active credit cards at March 31, 2025.
2025Qualcomm
Alphawave Semi Acquisition Completed
Qualcomm completes its roughly $2.4B purchase of Alphawave Semi to accelerate data center connectivity products.
2026ICICI Bank
Q1 FY2027 Profit Up 15.9%
Standalone profit rose 15.9% to Rs 14,805 crore for April-June 2026, with net interest income up 12.7% and net NPAs at 0.35%.
2026ICICI Bank
Bakhshi Reappointed to 2028
The RBI approved Sandeep Bakhshi's reappointment as MD and CEO for two years from October 4, 2026.
2026ICICI Bank
FY2026 Profit Crosses Rs 50,000 Crore
Standalone net profit rose 6.2% to Rs 50,146.6 crore in FY2026, with a 4.32% net interest margin and 15.8% loan growth.
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.
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.
Acquisitions
ICICI Bank
- Bank of Rajasthan2010Undisclosed
- The Sangli Bank2007Undisclosed
- Bank of Madura2001Undisclosed
- Anagram Finance1998Undisclosed
- ITC Classic Finance1997Undisclosed
Qualcomm
- Modular2026$3.9B
- Alphawave Semi2025$2.4B
- Veoneer Active Safety (ADAS Division)2022$4.5B
- Nuvia2021$1.4B
- RF360 Holdings (joint venture buyout)2019Undisclosed
- Atheros Communications2011$3.1B
Questions about ICICI Bank vs Qualcomm
Who is the CEO of ICICI Bank Limited and Qualcomm Inc.?
ICICI Bank Limited is led by Sandeep Bakhshi and Qualcomm Inc. is led by Cristiano Amon. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was ICICI Bank Limited founded vs Qualcomm Inc.?
Qualcomm Inc. was founded in 1985 — 9 years before ICICI Bank Limited, which was founded in 1994. Qualcomm Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger ICICI Bank Limited.
How many employees does ICICI Bank Limited have compared to Qualcomm Inc.?
ICICI Bank Limited employs approximately 124,029 people, while Qualcomm Inc. employs approximately 52,000. ICICI Bank Limited has the larger workforce at 124,029 employees, compared to Qualcomm Inc.'s 52,000. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are ICICI Bank Limited and Qualcomm Inc. headquartered?
ICICI Bank Limited is headquartered in India and Qualcomm Inc. is headquartered in United States. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded ICICI Bank Limited and Qualcomm Inc.?
ICICI Bank Limited was founded by Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India. Qualcomm Inc. was founded by Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi.
Which company has a longer operating history — ICICI Bank Limited or Qualcomm Inc.?
Qualcomm Inc. has been operating for approximately 41 years, making it the more established of the two companies. ICICI Bank Limited has been in operation for around 32 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the ICICI Bank vs Qualcomm overview