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Ben Wolff

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin G. Wolff
Born
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
EducationCalifornia Polytechnic State University (BS)
Lewis & Clark Law School (JD)
OccupationBusiness executive
Years active1994–present
Known forCo-founding Clearwire; leadership of Sarcos Robotics and Palladyne AI
TitlePresident and CEO, Palladyne AI

Benjamin G. Wolff is an American business executive and former attorney. He co-founded the wireless-broadband company Clearwire and was its president and chief executive officer during its early expansion and its combination with Sprint Nextel's WiMAX business.[1][2] He later led ICO Global Communications, a satellite communications company, and co-founded the independent robotics company that acquired Raytheon's Sarcos unit in 2015.[3][4] Wolff was chief executive and chairman of Sarcos from 2015 until 2021, when the company became publicly traded through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.[5] [6] He returned as president and chief executive officer in February 2024 after Sarcos discontinued its hardware-development operations to focus on artificial-intelligence software, and he led its renaming as Palladyne AI.[7]

Early life and education

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Wolff was born in Santa Barbara, California, and grew up on California's Central Coast.[8] As a teenager, he worked for an electrical contractor and established a retail business selling spas, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves. While attending college full time, he was also marketing director for an agricultural business.[8]

Wolff studied agricultural business at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, graduating with honors in 1991.[8][9] He received a Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College (now Lewis & Clark Law School) in 1994.[8][9]

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Wolff joined the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine after working there as a law clerk. He practiced at the firm from January 1994 until April 2004, focusing on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, venture financing and strategic alliances.[8][9] He became a partner in 1998, reportedly becoming the youngest lawyer to make partner at the firm.[8] He later co-chaired the firm's business-transactions department and was on its executive committee.[9]

Among Wolff's clients were businesses associated with telecommunications entrepreneur Craig McCaw.[1] Wolff stopped practicing law in 2004 to move into executive leadership.[9]

Career in business

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Clearwire

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In 2004, Wolff became president of Eagle River Investments, McCaw's investment organization, after having represented McCaw-related entities as outside counsel.[1] That same year, he co-founded Clearwire and joined the company, holding various positions including executive vice president, president, co-chief executive officer and chief executive officer.[2] He became chief executive officer in 2007.[1]

As chief executive, Wolff was the principal public advocate for Clearwire's plan to build a national mobile-broadband network using WiMAX.[10][11] In interviews and industry appearances, he argued that the company's large holdings of 2.5 GHz spectrum could support an open network and data-intensive mobile services. [12][13]

Wolff helped negotiate Clearwire's 2008 combination with Sprint Nextel's Xohm WiMAX unit. The transaction created a company valued at approximately $14.5 billion and included $3.2 billion of investment from Intel, Google, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Trilogy Equity Partners.[14] Wolff subsequently selected and announced members of the combined company's senior management team.[15]

Wolff was CEO until 2009, when he became co-chairman following the appointment of William Morrow as CEO.[16] He resigned from the board in 2011.[17]

ICO Global Communications

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Wolff became acting chief executive of satellite-communications company ICO Global Communications in December 2009 and was appointed chief executive, president and chairman in February 2010.[18] The company was subsequently renamed Pendrell Corporation and shifted its emphasis toward acquiring, managing and licensing intellectual property.[19]

Under Wolff, Pendrell purchased a controlling interest in digital-rights-management company ContentGuard for $90.1 million in 2011 and acquired additional patent portfolios, including patents and applications from Nokia relating to flash-memory technology.[20][21] He resigned as chief executive, president and a director in November 2014.[3][22]

Sarcos and Palladyne AI

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In January 2015, Wolff and Sarcos executive Fraser Smith led an investor group that acquired Raytheon's Sarcos robotics unit.[4] Smith initially became chief executive and Wolff chairman. Wolff became chief executive and chairman in September 2015.[6] He led fundraising from investors that included Microsoft, Caterpillar and GE Ventures to develop powered exoskeletons and teleoperated industrial robots intended for hazardous or physically demanding work.[23][24]

In 2021, Wolff negotiated Sarcos's merger with Rotor Acquisition Corporation. The transaction valued the combined company at $1.3 billion.[5] The merger closed in September 2021, after which Wolff was chief executive and chairman of the publicly traded company.[6] He moved from chief executive to executive chairman in December 2021 and left that position in February 2023.[6]

Wolff rejoined the company's management as executive vice chairman in October 2023 and became president and chief executive officer in February 2024.[7][6] In March 2024, the company changed its name to Palladyne AI to reflect its software focus.[25] In 2025, Palladyne completed several acquisitions that expanded its defense business.[26]

Board memberships

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Wolff has been a director of satellite-communications company Globalstar since 2018, where he is the chair of the Board’s Strategic Review Committee. [27][28] He has also been a director of Palladyne and its predecessor since 2015.[6]

Earlier in his career, Wolff chaired DBSD North America and was on the boards of ICO Global Communications and portfolio companies associated with Eagle River Investments.[9] He has also been on the Board of Visitors of Lewis & Clark Law School.[9]

Industry leadership

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Wolff was on the board of CTIA, the trade association for the United States wireless industry.[9] During his Clearwire tenure, he delivered presentations and interviews on WiMAX deployment, wireless-spectrum policy, open networks and mobile broadband.[10][11][13] In the robotics field, Wolff has written about the role of human-controlled industrial robotics, including in a 2017 article for IEEE Spectrum.[29]

Recognition

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The American Lawyer included Wolff in its 2003 “45 Under 45” selection of private-practice lawyers.[8] The Portland Business Journal had previously selected him for its “Forty Under 40” program.[8] In 2009, he was a Pacific Northwest finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year program for his work at Clearwire.[30]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 Meisner, Jeff (20 November 2008). "Ben Wolff's High-Wireless Act". Seattle Business Magazine. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  2. 1 2 "Current Report on Form 8-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  3. 1 2 Cook, John (20 November 2014). "Wireless pioneer Craig McCaw takes more active role at Pendrell, as CEO Ben Wolff resigns with $3M severance". GeekWire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  4. 1 2 Marinov, Bobby (8 February 2015). "Sarcos LC Acquires Raytheon Sarcos Unit of Raytheon". Exoskeleton Report. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Former Credit Suisse exec backed SPAC to take robotics firm Sarcos public". Reuters. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "2024 Proxy Statement". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 26 April 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  7. 1 2 Wessling, Brianna (16 November 2023). "Sarcos pivots from robotics to AI software development". The Robot Report. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Collins, Cliff (February–March 2003). "Benjamin Wolff: Legal Prodigy". Oregon State Bar Bulletin. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Wolff, Mr. Benjamin G." Lewis & Clark Law School. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  10. 1 2 "Q&A With Clearwire's Ben Wolff". Forbes. 20 June 2007. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  11. 1 2 Lawson, Stephen (20 August 2008). "Clearwire CEO: open WiMAX networks and high speeds". Ars Technica. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Waxer, Cindy (28 August 2008). "WiMax's Invisible Power". Forbes. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  13. 1 2 "Clearwire's Ben Wolff on nationwide WiMax, the killer app and the recession". RCR Wireless News. 15 December 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Cook, John (7 May 2008). "'Huge effort' clinched Clearwire deal". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Goldstein, Phil (22 September 2008). "Wolff outlines top management for 'new' Clearwire". Fierce Wireless. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Cheng, Roger (9 March 2009). "Clearwire Co-Founder Wolff Replaced as CEO". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  17. ↑ Cook, John (28 October 2011). "Former Clearwire CEO Ben Wolff resigns from company's board". GeekWire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  18. ↑ "Current Report on Form 8-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  19. ↑ Cook, John (11 July 2011). "Tech Moves: Clearwire vets land at newly-named Pendrell Corp". GeekWire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  20. ↑ Cook, John (22 September 2011). "Pendrell forks over $90 million for ContentGuard, gobbling up more than 250 patents". GeekWire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  21. ↑ Cook, John (25 March 2013). "Pendrell buys dozens of patents from Nokia covering SD cards and flash storage". GeekWire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  22. ↑ "Current Report on Form 8-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
  23. ↑ Stewart, Ashley (8 September 2016). "Former Clearwire CEO's robotics company raises $10M from Microsoft, Caterpillar, GE". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  24. ↑ Simon, Matt (17 October 2017). "The Guardian GT's 7-Foot-Long Arms Make It the Most Bonkers Robot on Earth". Wired. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  25. ↑ "Sarcos Robotics is Now Palladyne AI". Palladyne AI. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  26. ↑ Gatuz, Sheila (18 November 2025). "Palladyne AI Launches Defense Division After Acquisitions". GovCon Wire. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "Annual Report on Form 10-K". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  28. ↑ "2026 Proxy Statement". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 2 April 2026. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  29. ↑ Wolff, Ben (25 October 2017). "Why Human-Controlled, Force-Multiplying Robots Are the Future of Work on Earth". IEEE Spectrum. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  30. ↑ Woods, Randy (3 August 2009). "Ernst & Young's Northwest Entrepreneurs of the Year". Seattle Business Magazine. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
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