Jazz Semiconductor Systems was founded on February 15, 2002, renamed itself Specialtysemi, Inc. later in February 2002 and to Jazz Semiconductor, Inc. in May 2002. Prior to March 12, 2002, it was
Conexant's fabrication facility, as subsidiary Newport Fab, LLC. It was initially funded by Conexant and affiliates of the
Carlyle Group. Shu Li was its chief executive since May 2002.
RF Micro Devices invested $60 million in October 2002, and became a customer. Acquicor Management LLC was jointly formed by
Gil Amelio,
Steve Wozniak and
Ellen Hancock, all of whom had worked for
Apple Computer. Although the company had to disclose that it had no revenues nor products, and companies previously led by its principals had failed, the celebrity status of the founders attracted attention. The demand for the March 14 IPO caused an exercise of the over-allotment, resulting in net proceeds of $164 million. One analyst said it was "faith-based investing taken to the extreme". Jazz withdrew its own registration statement. To help finance the acquisition, Acquicor raised $145 million from convertible notes on December 19, 2006 and another $21.75 million on December 22, 2006. Conexant made a $10 million equity investment in Jazz while waiting for the deal to close, which it did on February 16, 2007. On February 21, 2007, Acquicor changed its name to Jazz Technologies, and its symbol to JAZ. In March 2007 Li resigned and Amelio became chief executive of the subsidiary company, still doing business as Jazz Semiconductor. Jazz had specialized in analog-intensive
mixed-signal integrated circuit manufacturing services. On June 11, 2007, it was announced that Hancock had left, and there were no plans to replace her. By the end of 2007, the company struggled to deal with the
Great Recession and its debt burden, such as buying back shares from the Acquicor principals. In February 2008 it announced a loss, and shares had reduced in price by over 80% from its IPO. The company hinted it was seeking a buyer. In May 2008, Jazz agreed to become a subsidiary of Tower Semiconductor of Israel in a stock-for-stock merger. The value of Jazz was only about $40 million after the assumption of debt, losing much of the original value of investors. Amelio retired as the deal closed on September 22, 2008. ==Jazz Technologies==