XCOM top brass jump ship to Globalstar

Paul Jacob (right), founder of XCOM Labs and former CEO of Qualcomm has become CEO of Globalstar, while XCOM CTO Matt Grob (left) becomes CTO and a raft of other execs also join the firm.

Jacob’s move is effective immediately, succeeding David Kagan who will retire as Globalstar’s CEO, and he will also been appointed to the board of directors.

As well as Jacob and Grob the release mentions a raft of other XCOM execs joining the Globalstar ranks – namely Peter Black, Chief Scientist, Tamer Kadous, Vice President of Wireless, and Daaman Hejmadi, Vice President of Engineering. ‘Collectively, these leading engineers are expected to help accelerate the Company’s ongoing commercialization work across both the satellite and terrestrial spectrum areas of the business,’ said the release.

As well as the influx of personnel, Globalstar the move also includes a ‘strategic perpetual licensing agreement for exclusive access to certain key XCOM technologies and personnel.’ This license covers a number of XCOM’s technologies relating to wireless spectrum, including XCOMP, XCOM’s coordinated multipoint radio system, as well as exclusive access to XCOM’s peer-to-peer connectivity technologies that could have applications across cellular and satellite devices.

In terms of the transaction, the release says: ‘Under the terms of the perpetual licensing agreement, the consideration for an upfront licensing fee and related costs will be approximately 60 million shares of Globalstar common stock.’

“I have devoted my career to advancing and commercializing innovation in wireless technology and am thrilled to continue this journey as CEO of Globalstar, said Jacobs. ‘The teams I’ve led have demonstrated the value creation that is possible by applying new technology to enhance capacity of underappreciated spectrum, and that is one of the many opportunities I see at Globalstar.”

“Bringing together Globalstar’s terrestrial spectrum and relationships with leading partners around the world with XCOM’s differentiated technology, which is well suited for high-performance applications, creates a significant opportunity to deliver for private network customers with mission-critical needs. At the same time, Globalstar’s continued innovations in satellite connectivity are just as exciting, particularly in small form-factor devices. Through the combination of Globalstar’s resources and XCOM’s technology, we can bring even more innovation to market.”

Globalstar Executive Chairman Jay Monroe added: “We have deep respect and familiarity developed from a close working relationship with the XCOM team over the last 20 years. Some of XCOM’s leaders contributed to the original Globalstar system while at Qualcomm, and we believe we will continue to break new ground with this team. Paul is a technology pioneer and proven leader who is well suited to drive Globalstar’s next phase of growth across our satellite and terrestrial assets and cement our position as a market disruptor.”

Having ran Qualcomm for a decade, Jacobs launched XCOM in 2018 with the pitch of tackling the challenges faced by next-gen mobile communications.

In 2021 the firm announced a ‘strategic alliance’ with Globalstar, in which the firms would ‘jointly seek to commercialize XCOM’s capacity-multiplying technology with Globalstar’s Band n53 for dense 5G deployments in the US and in other countries where Globalstar has terrestrial rights.’

Aside from the licensing agreement which appears to be what XCOM was set up to do, the mass transfer of executive level labour is the sort of thing that might happen after an acquisition in one direction or the other, but that isn’t mentioned in today’s release. Also not mentioned is who is left at the helm at XCOM following this deal.

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