Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (stylized as cādence),[2] is an American multinational technology and computational software company.[3] Headquartered in San Jose, California,[2] Cadence was formed in 1988 through the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD.[3] Initially specialized in electronic design automation (EDA) software for the semiconductor industry,[4] currently the company makes software and hardware for designing products such as integrated circuits, systems on chips (SoCs), printed circuit boards,[3] and pharmaceutical drugs, also licensing intellectual property for the electronics, aerospace, defense and automotive industries, among others.[5]
Company type
- Nasdaq: CDNS
- Nasdaq-100 component
- S&P 500 component
Solomon Design Automation, ECAD
1983 in San Jose, California as Solomon Design Automation (SDA), renamed Cadence Design Systems in 1988
San Jose, California, U.S.
Anirudh Devgan
(President, CEO)>
Lip-Bu Tan
(Executive Chairman)
US$4.09 billion (2023)
US$1.25 billion (2023)
US$1.04 billion (2023)
US$5.67 billion (2023)
US$3.40 billion (2023)
11,200 (2023)
History[edit]
1983-1999[edit]
Founded in 1983 in San Jose, California,[6] Cadence Design Systems began as an electronic design automation (EDA) company named Solomon Design Automation (SDA).[4] SDA's cofounder's included James Solomon, Richard Newton,[4] and Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli.[4][7] Cadence was formed by the merger of SDA and ECAD. A public company,[4] ECAD had been co-founded by Ping Chao, Glen Antle, and Paul Huang in 1982.[4] Cadence Design Systems was officially formed through SDA and ECAD's 1988 merger,[4] with Joseph Costello was appointed both CEO and president of the newly combined company. After the merger, Cadence began trading on the New York Stock Exchange and Costello oversaw further mergers and acquisitions.[4]
In 1989, the company acquired Gateway Design Automation for $72 million.[8] In 1990 it acquired Automated Systems Inc., and in doing so added "board design to its existing line of chip design software."[9] In 1991, Cadence acquired its rival Valid Logic Systems for around $200 million, its biggest acquisition yet. The revenues of the combined company were $390 million, making Cadence "the largest provider of the software used by electronic engineers to design computer chips and circuit boards," according to the New York Times.[4] In 1996, Cadence acquired High Level Design Systems,[10] at which point Cadence had 3,300 employees and $742 million in annual revenue. Following the resignation of Cadence's original CEO Joe Costello in 1997, Jack Harding was appointed CEO.[11] Ray Bingham was named CEO in 1999.[12] Cadence purchased Ambit Design Systems for $260 million, which made tools for system-on-a-chip technology, in 1998,[13] and OrCAD Systems in 1999.[14] After acquiring Quickturn Design in 1999, Cadence was described as a "white knight" for the act by the New York Times, as Quickturn had been subject to a hostile takeover by Cadence's rival Mentor Graphics.[15]
2000-2019[edit]
Under urging by executives such as Jim Hogan and executive vice president Penny Herscher, between 2001 and 2003, Cadence purchased a number of implementation tools through acquisition, such as Silicon Perspective, Verplex,[16] and Celestry Design.[17] The acquisitions were apparently in part to counter the 2001 purchase of Avanti by Synopsys, as Synopsys had become their primary market rival.[16] In 2004, Mike Fister became Cadence's new CEO and president, with Ray Bingham becoming chairman. The former chairman, Donald L. Lucas, remained on the Cadence board.[18] Between 2004 and 2007, Cadence purchased four companies, including the software developer Verisity, and in 2006, it spent $1 billion in stock buybacks.[6]
In 2007, Cadence announced it would be introducing a new chip-making process that laid wires diagonally as well as horizontally and vertically, arguing it would make its designs more efficient. In June 2007, Cadence had a market value of around $6.4 billion. That year, Cadence was rumored to be in talks with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Blackstone Group regarding a possible sale of the company.[6] Cadence withdrew a $1.6 billion offer to purchase Mentor Graphics in 2008.[19] Also that year, Cadence's board appointed Lip-Bu Tan as acting CEO, after the resignation of Mike Fister; Tan had served on the Cadence board of directors since 2004.[20] In January 2009, the board of directors of Cadence voted unanimously to confirm Lip-Bu Tan as president and CEO.[21] In 2011, it purchased Altos Design Automation.[22] Subsequent notable acquisitions included Cosmic Circuits[23] and Tensilica in 2013,[24] Forte Design Systems in 2014,[25] and the AWR Corporation in 2019.[26]
2020-2024[edit]
Cadence had 9,300 employees and annual revenue of $3 billion in 2021.[5] In April 2021, following a Washington Post report on the use of Cadence and Synopsys technology in the People's Liberation Army's military-civil fusion efforts,[27] U.S. legislators Michael McCaul and Tom Cotton requested that the United States Department of Commerce tighten controls on the sales of semiconductor manufacturing software.[28][29] On December 15, 2021, Anirudh Devgan assumed the role of Cadence president & CEO, after having been named Cadence president in 2017. Lip-Bu Tan retired as CEO and became executive chairman.[30] In 2021, Cadence launched an artificial intelligence platform to streamline processor development.[31]
Although most of Cadence's customers for decades were "traditional semiconductor firms," around 40% of Cadence's revenue by 2022 came from customers who were "systems" oriented, or seeking products tailored for various industries that utilized chips in a central role. Cadence was also increasingly designing customized chips for clients and having them manufactured by third parties such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, a practice which had become more popular in the face of worldwide chip shortages and shipping issues, according to Reuters.[13] By late 2022, Cadence had clients such as Tesla and Apple Inc.[13] Cadence acquired OpenEye Scientific Software for $500 million in September 2022, rebranding the company OpenEye Cadence Molecular Sciences and making it into a business unit.[5] OpenEye signed Pfizer as a software client in October 2023.[32] Cadence purchased various businesses from Rambus in 2023.[33]
Recognition[edit]
In 2016, Cadence CEO Lip-Bu Tan was awarded the Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award by the Global Semiconductor Alliance.[91] In 2019, Investor's Business Daily ranked Cadence Design Systems #5 on its 50 Best Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Companies list.[92] In 2020, Cadence ranked #45 on People Magazine's Companies that Care list.[93] Fortune Magazine named Cadence to its 100 Best Companies to Work For list for the sixth consecutive year in 2020.[94]
Sponsorship[edit]
In May 2022, the Formula 1 motor racing team McLaren announced a multi-year partnership deal with Cadence.[95] Cadence partnered with the San Francisco 49ers in April 2023 on a several year technology project to fix energy efficiencies at Levi's Stadium. The deal also gave Cadence the naming rights to the team's mobile app.[96]
