San Diego-based Leap Wireless International Inc. was founded in 1998 as a spin-off from Qualcomm Inc. and today is the seventh largest wireless carrier in the United States, with 4,300 employees and nearly 5 million customers in 35 states. Leap markets its services under the Cricket brand and targets young, ethnically diverse and value-conscious consumers — 75 percent of whom use Cricket as their only phone. Traded on Nasdaq (LEAP), the company generated total revenues of $599 million in the third quarter of 2009, an increase of 20.7 percent from the previous year. Its focus on providing low-cost, prepaid wireless service has helped it grow during the economic downturn. But Leap faces heightened competition as the number of first-time wireless customers declines. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Leap’s board is looking into selling the company or merging with a rival.
LEGAL TEAM AND OUTSIDE COUNSEL
General Counsel and Senior Vice President Robert Irving Jr., 54, declined to comment on the merger rumors, but was happy to talk about his legal and government affairs staff. It numbers more than 30, including 14 attorneys, three paralegals and a nine-member team dedicated to the thousands of subpoena requests each year from law enforcement agencies seeking customers’ phone records. Most of his staff is in San Diego, although Leap has three lawyers in Denver and one in Pittsburgh.
