Christmas movies often explore alternate timelines. Ebenezer Scrooge runs from his future to “A Christmas Carol”. George Bailey discusses what life would be like without him in “Wonderful Life.” Kevin McCallister can savor life without his family in “Home Alone.”
In the spirit of the holidays, let’s take a look at how the outgoing president of the United States, Donald Trump, handled some of the biggest tech events of the past four years, and ask ourselves what would have been if it hadn’t been for the intervention of the government.
2017: Justice Department blocks AT & T’s $ 85 billion deal with Time Warner
Randall Stephenson, president, and CEO of AT&T Inc. left, speaking while Jeffrey ‘Jeff’ Bewkes, president and CEO of Time Warner Inc.
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The US government appealed Leon’s decision but lost the judicial challenge in February.
As AT&T waited to take over Time Warner, the television world began to move. Americans began canceling cable by the millions and replaced their traditional pay-TV packages with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu.
In November 2019, Disney launched Disney +. In just over a year, Disney had 86.8 million Disney + subscribers. AT&T was unable to reorganize Time Warner around streaming until the deal was approved in mid-2018, making it slower to launch HBO Max’s main service, which began in May 2020. AT&T CEO John Stankey said. that earlier this month HBO Max had 12.6 million subscribers
Undaunted by the Time Warner deal, investors were not satisfied with AT & T’s performance.
Alternate schedule: AT&T acquired Time Warner in late 2017. AT&T offers HBO Max to shoppers months ahead of Disney in 2019. Due to its first lead, HBO Max is increasing its customers. AT&T shares soared as investors gave AT&T more than one like Netflix.
2018: Trump kills Broadcom’s hostile bid for Qualcomm
Fact: Just days before the Justice Department filed a lawsuit to block AT & T’s acquisition of Time Warner, Broadcom landed a staggering $ 103 billion in a hostile takeover offer from Qualcomm. Qualcomm is in the midst of getting approval for its own major acquisition, a $ 47 billion deal to buy Dutch semiconductor maker NXP, adding to the complexity of the offering.
Over the course of the next few months, Qualcomm and Broadcom clashed. Broadcom raised its offer to $ 121 billion and then lowered it to $ 117 billion after Qualcomm raised its offer for NXP to appease activist shareholder Elliott Management. Broadcom, however, appears to be gaining momentum among Qualcomm shareholders as a proxy vote approaches.
In early March, the Trump administration was involved. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) sent a letter to attorneys for Broadcom and Qualcomm listing the national security risks that could result from the exploitation or compromise of Qualcomm assets through adjustments. to “foreign third party entities”. It also raised concerns about Broadcom’s reputation for cutting research spending, a concern shared by Microsoft and Google, as CNBC reported.
A week later, Trump threw an unprecedented hammer. He blocked the agreement on national security issues, even before an agreement was reached between the two companies. The move significantly expanded the power of CFIUS and effectively chilled America’s cross-border semiconductor deals for the remainder of the Trump presidency.
Possibly in retaliation for Trump’s decision on Broadcom, Chinese regulators did not approve Qualcomm’s acquisition of NXP. Qualcomm broke the deal.
Alternative timeline: Broadcom buys Qualcomm and becomes a global semiconductor superpower. You will not buy CA Technologies for approximately $ 19 billion or Symantec business for $ 10.7 billion. NXP remains independent because Broadcom will choose not to take NXP. There will be billions of other cross-border chip transactions over the next three years, making bankers and lawyers happy.
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