Chapter 2852 Lovely Fairness

There are generally two reasons for a company to change its CEO.

First, the previous CEO retired.

Second, the company is in crisis and needs a new CEO to save the situation.

Little Jacob is obviously not old enough to retire.

Although Qualcomm's stock price has hit a record high, everyone inside can feel that there are too many hidden dangers and crises.

One is the patent lawsuit with Microsoft. If it cannot be settled amicably, the consequences will be very troublesome; second, Apple is developing its own chips. If they successfully bypass Qualcomm's patent system, Qualcomm's patent building will face the risk of collapse; third, Qualcomm's business crisis, even the most core Snapdragon chip has encountered development difficulties, and next year's new Snapdragon chip is likely to have big problems; the fourth point is the continuous antitrust lawsuits. The most critical one is of course the actions of South Korea.

In fact, not only South Korea, but also the EU is making a lot of noise.

It has already sent a signal that the EU will strengthen its antitrust efforts in the next term change, and the controversial Qualcomm has long become a thorn in the eye.

Zhou Buqi's words are obviously not a conspiracy theory.

Jacob Jr. has retreated to the second line and lost his power. This is of course due to the efforts of professional managers within Qualcomm, as well as the joint promotion of directors and core shareholders to further reduce the influence of the Jacob family on Qualcomm's decision-making.

But it went so smoothly, Jacob Jr. stepped down overnight, and there was almost no movement from the outside world. It is not without Jacob Jr.'s intention to give up his position.

Qualcomm is in crisis.

Once the thunder is exposed and Qualcomm's stock price plummets, shareholders will panic and need urgent rescue. At that time, the new CEO, Morenkopf, will become the scapegoat, and Jacob Jr. can stand up and take power with confidence.

Even Zhou Buqi can see it at a glance. Of course, Morenkopf has felt it a long time ago, but this is often the case.

Opportunities and risks coexist.

Most companies change CEOs because the company encounters a crisis, so a new CEO is needed to lead everyone through the difficulties. After getting through, the company enters a new era; if the breakthrough fails, it may be replaced in one or two years, and a new CEO will be found.

It is almost impossible to have equal power and responsibility and want to have the opportunity to hold power without taking responsibility.

For Zhou Buqi's words, Morenkopf was silent for half a minute, and then slowly said: "This is indeed an urgent matter after I took over as CEO. Mr. Zhou, please give me some time, I can definitely come up with a plan that satisfies all parties."

This is obviously a delaying tactic, and Zhou Buqi doesn't believe it at all.

Zhou Shaoning had said before that the strategy of "patent control + chip bundling" was the plan he built when he was the COO.

This is a restaurant, and everyone is having afternoon tea together.

There was a cup of tea, a cake and a fruit plate in front of Zhou Buqi, but he didn't move at all, and he was very aggressive, not giving the other party face at all, "All parties are satisfied? Who are the parties? I am not interested in such a plan. I just want Qualcomm to provide a fairer transaction plan when cooperating with mobile phone manufacturers!"

"Mr. Zhou, please give me time."

Morenkopf spoke earnestly, with a bit of begging attitude.

Zhou Buqi was indifferent and said lightly: "When I do business, what I care most about is fairness. I believe you should also know that all the partners who have business dealings with me are happy. But when I learned about the transaction agreements between Estar, Xiaomi, ZTE, Samsung, HTC, Sony and other mobile phone manufacturers and Qualcomm, I think you have touched some bottom lines in principle."

Mollenkopf explained: "Mr. Zhou, is there some misunderstanding here? As far as I know, Qualcomm has always been sincerely cooperating with mobile phone manufacturers. Some conditions may not be appropriate. We can sit down and talk slowly in the future. Again, give me some time, I will form a special project team to re-start talks with Estar and provide Estar with a better cooperation plan."

Zhou Buqi did not accept it at all. Small profits and small benefits could not shake his principles. "I said, this has nothing to do with Estar! What I want is fairness!"

Mollenkopf was speechless.

Zhou Buqi said: "There is one thing I don't know if you know. I am actually an important shareholder of Qualcomm. My investment fund Pluto Capital holds more than 3.17% of Qualcomm's shares."

"Oh?" Morenkopf's eyes lit up and he became happy, "Mr. Zhou, the steady rise of Qualcomm's stock price is in our common interests!"

"Benefits?" Zhou Buqi's eyebrows were somewhat disdainful, "I have said it before, I don't care about interests, I want fairness! Lovely fairness! If Qualcomm makes money for me with a monopoly strategy, I think it is a shameful money!"

Morenkopf took a deep breath, a little bit unable to suppress his anger, and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zhou, I am very disappointed with your statement."

Zhou Buqi didn't care, "To be honest, whether you are disappointed or not, I don't care at all. Because I have seen the future, if you can't make changes immediately, you will soon step down from the CEO position of Qualcomm."

"Mr. Zhou, I have always respected you, respected your achievements over the past few years, respected your position and influence in the business world, but..." Mohlenkopf was really a little intolerable in the face of such undisguised criticism, "But what you said just now makes me think that you are not standing on a fair position."

Zhou Buqi shook his head and laughed, "Steven, I have always been reminding you with good intentions."

"I am very grateful for your reminder, but I will reserve my opinion."

Mohlenkopf's attitude was not as weak as at the beginning. He had discovered that he would not be able to please the young world's richest man by being humble all the time. This kid came here today just to nitpick and make trouble.

Seeing that he didn't seem to want to talk anymore, Zhou Buqi felt that today's meeting would basically end in a bad mood, so he showed his cards, "I still say that, give Qualcomm three days. Within three days, Qualcomm must come up with a sincere plan and cancel all unreasonable sales agreements."

"That's impossible. In three days, I don't even know the basic situation."

"Seven days at most."

"Seven days is impossible."

"Only seven days." Zhou Buqi didn't have time to drag it out with him, "After seven days, if I don't see a feasible plan, then we can only ask the arbitration agency to come forward."

Mollenkopf's face was as gloomy as water.

This is the same as South Korea.

Samsung also came to Qualcomm to talk at first, but they didn't reach an agreement. There was no other way, so they turned back to find the Korea Fair Trade Commission and launched an antitrust investigation against Qualcomm. Samsung has unparalleled industry influence in South Korea, and this boss Zhou will not be much different in China!

However, Zhou Buqi had a trick up his sleeve, further threatening, "In addition, I will sell all Qualcomm shares that I directly and indirectly hold."

"Huh?"

Mollenkopf's eyes widened.

He had just taken over as CEO, and the world's richest man liquidated Qualcomm's shares. This was an extremely significant negative signal for the capital market, and the market would greatly reduce its trust in him as a CEO.

Zhou Buqi said lightly: "I don't like to play tricks behind the scenes. I have told you what is going to happen next. You can weigh the pros and cons yourself. Qualcomm is an excellent company, and I am willing to hold Qualcomm's shares for a long time. However, if Qualcomm goes astray, I will definitely not accompany Qualcomm. If one day in the future, Qualcomm gets back on track, I may buy Qualcomm's shares again. But by that time, I believe that Qualcomm's CEO will no longer be you."

Mollenkopf remained silent.

Zhou Buqi smiled and said, "I have said everything I need to say. You can decide for yourself. I will give you seven days. Well... today's conversation may not be very pleasant, but it doesn't matter. I can pay for you. However, Qualcomm has been heavily fined by China and South Korea for monopoly. I will not participate in it no matter what. I hope you can be mentally prepared."