I've never met Franklin Antonio, but for the ones that don't know, he co-founded Qualcomm, and I assume he made most of his money that way. He died last year, casue of death was uncertain. [0]
Wikipedia somehow separates him from the "original" seven founders, though: [1]
> Qualcomm was created in July 1985by seven former Linkabit employees led by Irwin Jacobs. Other co-founders included Andrew Viterbi, Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Harvey White.
It seems that he's been a long-time supporter of SETI.
Glad that this money will go towards scientific research.
EDIT: the source cited by Wikipedia [2] actually includes Franklin Antonio among the original seven founders:
> The company was founded in 1985 by seven communications industry veterans -- Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and Harvey White.
I worked with Franklin for a short while in the late 90s. He was an intimidating, if fair person. Very little tolerance for bs or people who wanted to look good. But if he asked you something and you didn't know the answer he was fair if you just said so (which I had to do on at least one occasion). Did not know he passed, or that he was involved with SETI. I remember reading in a local SD paper a few years ago that he gave quite a bit to a local charity for the homeless. He was a very independent thinker, so not so surprised that he might make some unconventional choices in how he gave away his money.
I think the "other" in the Wikipedia articles refers to that the six listed (Andrew Viterbi, Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Harvey White) are in addition to the "leader" Irwin Jacobs, not that they are in addition to seven unlisted founders.
Wikipedia somehow separates him from the "original" seven founders, though: [1]
> Qualcomm was created in July 1985by seven former Linkabit employees led by Irwin Jacobs. Other co-founders included Andrew Viterbi, Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, and Harvey White.
It seems that he's been a long-time supporter of SETI.
Glad that this money will go towards scientific research.
EDIT: the source cited by Wikipedia [2] actually includes Franklin Antonio among the original seven founders:
> The company was founded in 1985 by seven communications industry veterans -- Franklin Antonio, Adelia Coffman, Andrew Cohen, Klein Gilhousen, Irwin Jacobs, Andrew Viterbi and Harvey White.
[0]: https://www.seti.org/longtime-seti-champion-franklin-antonio...
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualcomm
[2]: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/08/10/qualcomm.facts/