PCO

Pendrell Corp

A Washington-based holding company that buys up businesses and patent portfolios built on unique technologies, then licenses those inventions to other companies and helps turn them into products. It began life in 1995 as ICO Global Communications, a satellite-phone venture that fell into bankruptcy before telecom mogul Craig McCaw rescued it in 2000; a decade later it pivoted to patents and took the new name Pendrell. The moniker is an English surname tied to hilltop place names like Pendle Hill — a fitting nod to a firm built on ideas and lofty ambitions.