Qualcomm vs Unilever: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Qualcomm and Unilever side by side

1. 1884Unilever

   Lever soap factory opens

   William Hesketh Lever built the Port Sunlight soap business that became a key Unilever predecessor.

2. 1929Unilever

   Unilever created

   Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie merged to form Unilever.

3. 1929Unilever

   Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie Merge

   Lever Brothers and the Dutch Margarine Unie merged in 1929 to form Unilever.

4. 1984Unilever

   Acquired Brooke Bond

   Unilever acquired Brooke Bond in 1984 for ~$515 million (£390 million).

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 1989Unilever

   Acquired Calvin Klein Cosmetics

   Unilever acquired Calvin Klein Cosmetics in 1989.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 1993Unilever

    Acquired Breyers

    Unilever acquired Breyers in 1993.

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 2000Unilever

    Acquired Maille

    Unilever acquired Maille. Unilever acquired Maille in 2000.

15. 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.

16. 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…

17. 2019Unilever

    Alan Jope becomes CEO

    Alan Jope became CEO of Unilever in 2019. Jope simplified Unilever's legal structure and organisation, which made later portfolio separations easier.

18. 2020Unilever

    Legal structure unified

    Unilever moved to a single parent company structure after decades with British and Dutch holding companies.

19. 2020Unilever

    Single Parent Company

    Unilever unified its dual structure into a single parent company, Unilever PLC, in November 2020.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 2025Qualcomm

    Alphawave Semi Acquisition Completed

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

24. 2025Unilever

    Fernando Fernandez becomes CEO

    Fernando Fernandez was appointed CEO effective March 2025.

25. 2025Unilever

    Ice Cream demerger reflected

    Unilever reported 2025 results on a continuing-operations basis after the Ice Cream business demerger.

26. 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.

27. 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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