George Davis
In a same-day announcement from both companies, George Davis was revealed to have left Qualcomm Inc. to become chief financial officer at rival chipmaker Intel Corp. He replaces Todd Underwood, who held the CFO role on an interim basis after former CFO Bob Swan was appointed CEO of the company two months before. Note that from 2009 to 2016, Swan was a board member of Applied Materials Inc., where Davis worked earlier in his career. Swan stated, “Our owners can expect a continued disciplined approach to capital allocation and a relentless focus on creating stockholder value.”
Meanwhile, at Qualcomm, Senior Vice President and Treasurer David Wise will be interim CFO while the company begins its search for Davis’ successor. Wise joined Qualcomm in 1997 and has held a variety of roles in finance, corporate development and strategy since that time.
On making the move, Davis stated, “With demand for the analysis, transmission and storage of data growing faster than ever, no company in the world is better positioned to capitalize on that opportunity than Intel.”
Davis, 61, was executive vice president and finance chief at Qualcomm from March 2013. Previously, he was CFO for Applied Materials Inc., responsible for finance, information technology, strategy and corporate development, as well as government relations. He currently serves on the board of The Old Globe Theater and is a member of The Wall Street Journal’s CFO Network.
