Qualcomm Legal Chief Gets 26% Pay Bump After Chip Battle

Qualcomm Inc.’s general counsel Ann Chaplin saw her total compensation reach almost $7 million last year, a roughly 26% increase over the year prior.

The San Diego-based company, which makes everything from semiconductors to software, disclosed Chaplin’s remuneration in a proxy statement filed late Thursday. Chaplin and Qualcomm didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Chaplin, a former leader of the litigation practice at Fish & Richardson, joined Qualcomm in late 2021 to succeed the company’s retiring legal chief Donald Rosenberg. She previously worked at General Motors Co., where Chaplin was a deputy general counsel and corporate secretary.

Qualcomm initially gave Chaplin an $8.4 million pay package, which included a nearly $1.3 million signing bonus, according to securities filings. She earned more than $5.5 million in total compensation from the company in 2023.

Chaplin’s compensation for 2024 included nearly $5.3 million in stock awards and almost $1.6 million in cash, including $700,000 in annual base salary.

Alexander Rogers, a former deputy general counsel at Qualcomm who is now president of technology licensing and global affairs at the company, received more than $8.4 million in total compensation last year.

Mark McLaughlin, chairman of the board at Qualcomm, earned almost $549,400 in total compensation during 2024. McLaughlin is a former Cooley LLP associate who was once one of the highest-paid public company executives in the US during his time as CEO of Palo Alto Networks Inc.

Qualcomm snagged a key litigation win a month ago against Arm Holdings PLC in a high-profile chip licensing trial in Delaware. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison represented Qualcomm in the case, while Morrison & Foerster took the lead for longtime client Arm. Qualcomm is looking to diversify its product lines.

Securities filings show that Chaplin sold off nearly $2 million in Qualcomm stock last year. She owns almost $3.4 million in company shares, per Bloomberg data.