Broadcom Corp

Newly released documents in the divorce proceedings of Broadcom Corp. co-founder Henry T. Nicholas III reveal harsh battles with his former wife, Stacey, over how to divide the couple's $1 billion in community property, his alleged drug use and her relationship with the family's former security chief. The documents show that Stacey Nicholas' recent efforts to force a trial to divide the estate have been complicated by the pending criminal prosecution of Henry Nicholas. Federal indictments have accused Nicholas of distributing illegal drugs to friends and business associates, and of manipulating Broadcom stock options to secretly provide $2.2 billion in benefits to employees of the Irvine microchip company.

Broadcom Corp. posted lower fourth-quarter profit Thursday as the maker of microchips for mobile phones and other devices felt the repercussions of a broader industry slowdown and booked costs related to stock awards. The Irvine company said it expected sales in its current quarter to fall about 3% from the previous quarter. Net income in the fourth quarter was $45.1 million, or 8 cents a share, compared with $186.7 million, or 32 cents, a year earlier, the company said.

Henry Samueli, the billionaire chairman of Broadcom Corp., has refused an informal request to be interviewed by federal criminal investigators looking into the manipulation of stock-option grants at the Irvine technology company, people with knowledge of the probe said. The sticking point has been the government's refusal to assure Samueli that he is only a witness and not a subject of the investigation, these people said.

Broadcom Corp., a chip maker whose financial restatement in January was the biggest by a company in the U.S. stock option scandal, paid Chief Executive Scott McGregor $9.9 million in total compensation last year. McGregor had a salary of $600,000, the same as in 2005, and received stock awards totaling $3.13 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The maker of chips for electronic devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPod music player also gave McGregor $5.

Shareholders of chip maker Broadcom Corp. should withhold votes for Chairman Henry Samueli at their annual meeting because of his role in backdating stock options, a corporate-governance group recommended. Irvine-based Broadcom in January reported the largest restatement so far related to misdated stock options, adding $2.2 billion in costs for the years 1998 to 2005. The maker of silicon chips for consumer devices said Samueli reasonably relied on outside experts when granting the options.

A judge Monday denied a request by Broadcom Corp. founders Henry Nicholas and Henry Samueli and other company directors to dismiss a lawsuit filed by investors accusing them of improperly backdating stock options. U.S. District Judge Manuel Real made the ruling at a hearing in Los Angeles federal court without further comment. Real last month denied a similar motion by the Irvine-based company to dismiss the case for lack of merit.

Irvine-based chip maker Broadcom Corp. has been in talks with cellphone makers about new designs since winning a patent dispute with rival Qualcomm Inc., Chief Executive Scott McGregor said. The U.S. International Trade Commission on June 7 banned the import of some phones after finding that Qualcomm's newest chips infringe a Broadcom patent for a battery-saving feature. The ban could mean wireless carriers won't be able to offer the newest phones for Christmas.

Securities regulators may sue the top lawyer at wireless chip maker Broadcom Corp. for alleged backdating of stock options, the Irvine company said in a public filing Tuesday. The Securities and Exchange Commission sent a notice to David Dull, Broadcom's general counsel, that he faced a civil lawsuit from the government. Dull did not return a message left at his office.

Broadcom Corp. said it had developed an integrated third-generation high-speed wireless cellphone chip ahead of bigger rivals Texas Instruments Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. The Irvine-based company said it developed a single chip with a baseband -- the cellphone's main processor -- and a radio receiver as well as FM radio and Bluetooth, a short-range technology used for wirelessly linking handsets to headsets.

Broadcom Corp. executives have a vision of the Irvine chip maker eventually supplying all the brains and power in cellphones, but Wall Street wasn't waiting Wednesday for that to happen. Company shares cratered, losing $7.14, or 17%, to $34.92 after the company said late Tuesday that research and development expenses were higher than normal and would continue to be high.