Broadcom Inc.
Company History
Broadcom History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1991 in San Jose, California
When was Broadcom founded?
Broadcom was founded in 1991 in San Jose, California by Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III, making it 35 years old.
- Founded
- 1991
- Founding place
- San Jose, California
- Founders
- Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III
- Headquarters today
- Palo Alto, California
- Milestones documented
- 16 (1991–2026)
- Current CEO
- Hock Tan
- Acquisitions
- 6
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1991 | Broadcom Corporation founded |
| 1998 | Broadcom Corporation IPO |
| 2005 | Avago Technologies formed |
| 2006 | Hock Tan becomes CEO of Avago |
| 2009 | Avago lists on Nasdaq |
| 2014 | LSI Corporation acquired |
| 2016 | Avago buys Broadcom Corporation |
| 2017 | Brocade acquired |
| 2018 | Qualcomm bid blocked and move to the U.S. |
| 2018 | CA Technologies acquired |
| 2019 | Symantec enterprise security acquired |
| 2022 | VMware deal announced |
| 2023 | VMware acquisition closes |
| 2024 | Stock split and $1 trillion market value |
| 2025 | OpenAI partnership and record fiscal 2025 |
| 2026 | AI chips pass half of revenue |
- Where was Broadcom founded?
- Broadcom was founded in San Jose, California in 1991.
- Who founded Broadcom?
- Broadcom was founded by Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III.
- When did Broadcom start?
- Broadcom was founded in 1991.
- How old is Broadcom?
- Broadcom is 35 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Broadcom has two origin stories. Henry Samueli, a UCLA electrical engineering professor, and Henry Nicholas III, his former doctoral student, founded Broadcom Corporation in Los Angeles in 1991 to put broadband communications onto CMOS chips; its chips went into early cable modems and set-top boxes, and it listed on Nasdaq in April 1998. Separately, KKR and Silver Lake bought Agilent's semiconductor products group for $2.66 billion in 2005 and named it Avago Technologies, and Hock Tan became its CEO in March 2006. Avago listed in 2009, bought LSI in 2014 and agreed in May 2015 to buy Broadcom Corporation for $37 billion, completing the deal in February 2016 and taking the Broadcom name.
Founders
Henry Samueli
Henry Samueli co-founded Broadcom Corporation in Los Angeles in 1991 with Henry Nicholas III, his former doctoral student, and served as its chief technical officer while the company built chips for cable modems, set-top boxes, Ethernet and Wi-Fi. Broadcom listed on Nasdaq in April 1998. During the stock-option backdating investigations he pleaded guilty in June 2008 to making a false statement to the SEC, but Judge Cormac Carney vacated the plea in December 2009 and criticized the prosecutors' conduct. When Avago Technologies bought Broadcom Corporation in February 2016, Samueli joined the combined company's board, and he is chairman of Broadcom Inc. Henry Samueli was born in 1954 in Buffalo. Education: University of California, Los Angeles; Fairfax High School.
Henry Nicholas III
Henry Nicholas III co-founded Broadcom Corporation with Samueli in 1991 and was its president and CEO through the cable modem boom, the April 1998 IPO and a string of stock-funded acquisitions in 1999 and 2000. He resigned in January 2003. In 2008 federal prosecutors indicted him on stock-option backdating charges and, separately, on drug charges. Judge Cormac Carney dismissed the backdating case in December 2009, citing prosecutorial misconduct, and the drug charges were dismissed in January 2010. He has no operating role at today's Broadcom Inc. Henry Nicholas III was born in 1959.
Key Milestones
Broadcom Corporation founded
UCLA professor Henry Samueli and his former doctoral student Henry Nicholas III found Broadcom Corporation in Los Angeles to build broadband communications chips in CMOS, starting with chips for cable modems and digital set-top boxes.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBroadcom Corporation IPO
Broadcom Corporation lists on Nasdaq in April 1998 at $24 a share, as cable operators roll out DOCSIS cable modems built on its chips.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAvago Technologies formed
KKR and Silver Lake buy Agilent Technologies' semiconductor products group, whose roots go back to Hewlett-Packard's chip operations, for about $2.66 billion and name it Avago Technologies.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgHock Tan becomes CEO of Avago
Hock Tan becomes president and CEO of Avago in March 2006 and begins pruning its portfolio to the businesses with defensible technology.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAvago lists on Nasdaq
Avago Technologies goes public on Nasdaq in August 2009 at $15 a share, giving it stock to use in later acquisitions.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLSI Corporation acquired
Avago completes its $6.6 billion purchase of LSI in May 2014, adding storage controllers and custom ASIC design teams.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAvago buys Broadcom Corporation
Avago completes its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom Corporation in February 2016, takes the Broadcom name and trades as AVGO.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgBrocade acquired
Broadcom completes its $5.9 billion purchase of Brocade Communications in November 2017, adding Fibre Channel storage networking switches.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgQualcomm bid blocked and move to the U.S.
President Trump blocks Broadcom's unsolicited bid for Qualcomm on national security grounds in March 2018. Broadcom completes its redomicile from Singapore to the United States that April.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCA Technologies acquired
Broadcom completes its $18.9 billion purchase of CA Technologies in November 2018, its first large software deal, creating the infrastructure software segment.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSymantec enterprise security acquired
Broadcom buys Symantec's enterprise security business for $10.7 billion in November 2019, adding endpoint, web and data loss prevention software.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgVMware deal announced
Broadcom agrees in May 2022 to buy VMware in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $61 billion at announcement.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgVMware acquisition closes
Broadcom completes the VMware acquisition on 22 November 2023 after clearances in the U.S., EU, UK and China, a deal valued at about $69 billion including assumed debt.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgStock split and $1 trillion market value
Broadcom splits its stock 10-for-1 in July 2024, sells VMware's end-user computing unit to KKR for about $4 billion, reports fiscal 2024 revenue of $51.6 billion and passes $1 trillion in market value in December 2024.
Source: data.sec.govOpenAI partnership and record fiscal 2025
OpenAI and Broadcom agree in October 2025 to deploy 10 gigawatts of OpenAI-designed accelerators. Fiscal 2025 revenue rises 24% to $63.9 billion, with about $20 billion from AI chips.
Source: investors.broadcom.comAI chips pass half of revenue
Amie Thuener becomes CFO in June 2026. Third-quarter fiscal 2026 revenue rises 86% to $29.6 billion, and AI semiconductor revenue of $16.7 billion is 56% of the total.
Source: investors.broadcom.comMajor Acquisitions
LSI Corporation
2014Avago bought LSI, closing in May 2014, for its storage controllers, SAS and RAID chips and custom ASIC design teams that served server and storage makers.
Broadcom Corporation
2016Avago agreed in May 2015 to buy Broadcom Corporation for about $37 billion in cash and stock, the largest chip deal to that point, to gain its Ethernet switching, broadband and wireless franchises.
Brocade Communications Systems
2017Bought for Brocade's Fibre Channel storage area network switches, a stable business with entrenched enterprise customers.
CA Technologies
2018Broadcom's first large software deal, struck months after its Qualcomm bid was blocked, bought CA's mainframe, DevOps and automation software and its base of large enterprise customers.
Symantec Enterprise Security business
2019Added Symantec's enterprise endpoint, web, email and data loss prevention products, sold mainly to regulated industries and governments.
VMware
2023Announced in May 2022 at about $61 billion and completed on 22 November 2023 at about $69 billion including assumed debt, the deal added the virtualization software used in most corporate data centers.
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Broadcom Company History FAQ
When was Broadcom founded?
Broadcom Corporation was founded in Los Angeles in 1991 by Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III. Today's Broadcom Inc. descends from Avago Technologies, formed in 2005 from Agilent's chip unit, which bought Broadcom Corporation in February 2016 and took its name.
How is Broadcom connected to HP?
Avago's chip operations began inside Hewlett-Packard, moved to Agilent when HP spun it off in 1999, and were sold to KKR and Silver Lake for about $2.66 billion in 2005. Avago later bought Broadcom Corporation and adopted the Broadcom name.
When did Broadcom move to the United States?
Broadcom completed its redomicile from Singapore to the United States in April 2018, a month after President Trump blocked its bid for Qualcomm. Its headquarters is now in Palo Alto, California.
When did Broadcom pass $1 trillion in market value?
In December 2024, after its fiscal 2024 results and an AI outlook for its largest custom-chip customers. It was worth about $1.68 trillion on 30 September 2026.
What are Broadcom's recent milestones?
Tomahawk 6 at 102.4 terabits per second in June 2025, the 10-gigawatt OpenAI accelerator agreement in October 2025, record fiscal 2025 revenue of $63.9 billion, and Q3 fiscal 2026 revenue of $29.6 billion, of which AI chips were $16.7 billion.
Was Broadcom bought by Avago?
Yes, the original Broadcom (founded in 1991) was acquired by Avago Technologies in 2016 for $37 billion. Avago then assumed the Broadcom name because it had vastly better brand recognition.
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