Broadcom Inc.

Semiconductors & Enterprise SoftwareFounded 1991- HQ today: Palo Alto, California

Founders

Who Founded Broadcom?

Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas III · Founded 1991 · HQ today: Palo Alto, California

Who founded Broadcom?

Broadcom was founded by Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas III in 1991. It is now led by Hock Tan.

Founders: Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas III
Founded: 1991
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
Number of founders: 2
Current CEO: Hock Tan (since 2006)

Where was Broadcom founded?: Broadcom was founded in San Jose, California in 1991.
When was Broadcom founded?: Broadcom was founded in 1991.
Who started Broadcom?: Broadcom was founded by Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III.
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.

Henry Samueli

Co-founder 1991

Background

Henry Samueli grew up in Los Angeles and earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in electrical engineering at UCLA, where he later taught. His research in digital signal processing and integrated circuits underpinned the broadband chips Broadcom became known for. Before Broadcom he co-founded PairGain Technologies, a maker of telephone-line transmission equipment. The engineering schools at UCLA and UC Irvine are named after him, and he and his wife Susan own the Anaheim Ducks hockey team.

Role at Broadcom Inc.

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

Co-founder 1991

Background

Henry Nicholas III studied electrical engineering at UCLA, where Henry Samueli supervised his doctoral work, and worked at defense contractor TRW and at PairGain Technologies before co-founding Broadcom. His sister Marsy was murdered in 1983, and he later funded Marsy's Law, the crime victims' rights measure California voters approved in 2008 and that other states have since adopted.

Role at Broadcom Inc.

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.

Broadcom Inc.: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Amie Thuener

Chief Financial Officer

2026 – Present

Amie Thuener joined Broadcom as CFO on 12 June 2026 from Alphabet, where she had been vice president, corporate controller and chief accounting officer since 2018, after an earlier career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Her first quarter as CFO produced record revenue of $29.6 billion.

Kirsten Spears

Chief Financial Officer

2020 – 2026

Kirsten Spears was CFO for about six years of her 12 years at Broadcom, covering the VMware financing and the AI-driven growth of 2024 and 2025. She retired on 12 June 2026 and agreed to advise the company for nine months.

Hock Tan

President and Chief Executive Officer

2006 – Present

Hock E. Tan became CEO of Avago Technologies in March 2006 and has run the company through its acquisitions of LSI (2014), Broadcom Corporation (2016), Brocade (2017), CA Technologies (2018), Symantec's enterprise business (2019) and VMware (2023). Born in Penang, Malaysia, he holds bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT and an MBA from Harvard, and earlier held finance roles at General Motors and PepsiCo and was CEO of Integrated Circuit Systems. In 2025 the board agreed he would stay through at least 2030 and granted a performance award that pays nothing unless AI revenue tops $60 billion in a four-quarter period between fiscal 2028 and 2030.

Scott McGregor

President and CEO of Broadcom Corporation

2005 – 2016

Scott McGregor led Broadcom Corporation from 2005 until Avago completed its $37 billion acquisition in February 2016, a period when the company expanded in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, set-top box and data center switch chips.

Henry Samueli

Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board

1991 – Present

Henry Samueli co-founded Broadcom Corporation in 1991 and, as chief technical officer, led the engineering behind its cable modem, Ethernet and Wi-Fi chips. He joined the board after Avago bought Broadcom Corporation in 2016 and is chairman of Broadcom Inc.

Henry Nicholas III

Co-Founder; President and CEO of Broadcom Corporation

1991 – 2003

Henry Nicholas III ran Broadcom Corporation from its founding through its April 1998 IPO and the dot-com boom, then resigned in January 2003. Backdating and drug charges brought against him in 2008 were dismissed in December 2009 and January 2010.

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Who Founded Broadcom? FAQ

Who founded Broadcom?

Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas III founded Broadcom Corporation in Los Angeles in 1991. Samueli taught electrical engineering at UCLA, where he had supervised Nicholas's doctoral work.

What does Henry Samueli do now?

He is chairman of Broadcom Inc. He and his wife Susan own the Anaheim Ducks, and the engineering schools at UCLA and UC Irvine carry his name.

What happened to Henry Nicholas III?

He resigned as CEO in January 2003. He was indicted in 2008 on backdating and drug charges; the backdating case was dismissed in December 2009 for prosecutorial misconduct and the drug charges in January 2010. He later funded the Marsy's Law victims' rights campaign.

Did Hock Tan found Broadcom?

No. Tan became CEO of Avago Technologies in 2006, and Avago bought Broadcom Corporation in 2016 and took its name.

What did Broadcom's founders build first?

Communications chips in standard CMOS silicon for cable modems and digital set-top boxes, followed by Ethernet and Wi-Fi chips. Broadcom Corporation listed on Nasdaq in April 1998.

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Who founded Broadcom?

Founding Story

Henry Samueli

Background

Role at Broadcom Inc.

Henry Nicholas III

Background

Role at Broadcom Inc.

Broadcom Inc.: CEO & Leadership History

Keep researching Broadcom

Who Founded Broadcom? FAQ

Who founded Broadcom?

What does Henry Samueli do now?

What happened to Henry Nicholas III?

Did Hock Tan found Broadcom?

What did Broadcom's founders build first?

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