A123 Falls After Qualcomm Chief Jacobs Steps Down From Board

A123 Systems Inc. (AONE), a U.S. maker of lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and grid storage, fell to a record low after a director resigned.

A123 dropped 22 percent to 49 cents at the close in New York, the lowest since its initial public offering in September 2009. The shares have slipped 35 percent this week, giving the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company a market value of $72 million.

Paul Jacobs, chief executive officer of Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), the largest supplier of semiconductors for mobile phones, stepped down as an A123 director on July 23, according to a statement today.

“I have elected to step down from A123’s board to focus on Qualcomm’s growing and increasingly diverse business,” Jacobs said in the statement. He had served on A123’s board since 2002, according to a filing today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Herndon in San Francisco at aherndon2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reed Landberg at landberg@bloomberg.net