Billionaire Dai to reap US$237 million windfall from selling Alphawave IP to Qualcomm

Dai Weili holds 96.3 million shares of London-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave IP Group, making her its second-largest shareholder

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Portrait of Weili Dai for Post Magazine on 9 September 2009. Photo: SCMP

Published: 12:13pm, 19 Jun 2025

Dai Weili has built a career helping turn tech start-up after tech start-up into successful ventures. The serial entrepreneur is now poised to pocket a windfall from one of them: US$237 million from the pending sale of Alphawave IP Group to Qualcomm.

Dai holds a 96.3 million-share stake in the London-listed semiconductor firm, making her its second-largest shareholder. Qualcomm agreed earlier this month to buy Alphawave for about US$2.4 billion in cash, in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of next year.

This latest payday will bring the 63-year-old’s estimated fortune to at least US$3.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which is valuing her for the first time.

Dai’s late husband, Sehat Sutardja, was appointed to Alphawave’s board in April 2021, the same year the company listed in London following a US$1.2 billion IPO. After he died in September, Dai inherited his stake in the company and became an interim executive director. Alphawave focuses on increasing semiconductor power efficiency and speed.

Portrait of Dai Weili for the Post Magazine on 9 September 2009. Photo: SCMP

Born in Shanghai and later raised in California, Dai began her entrepreneurial journey in 1995 when she and Sutardja co-founded US chipmaker Marvell Technology around a kitchen table alongside her brother-in-law. The trio chose the name Marvell because they wanted to create “marvellous” devices, the company’s blog says.

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Billionaire Dai to reap US$237 million windfall from selling Alphawave IP to Qualcomm

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Dai Weili holds 96.3 million shares of London-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave IP Group, making her its second-largest shareholder

Dai Weili holds 96.3 million shares of London-listed semiconductor firm Alphawave IP Group, making her its second-largest shareholder