Broadcom vs Pfizer: Founders, CEOs and History
Broadcom was founded in 1991 by Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas III and is led by Hock Tan. Pfizer was founded in 1849 by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart and is led by Albert Bourla.
Company facts
Founders
Broadcom
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.
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.
Pfizer
Charles Pfizer
Pfizer possesses a historic, immigrant founding story, rooted entirely in the rapid industrial expansion of 19th-century Brooklyn and defined by an effective, intensely meticulous German chemist and his ambitious confectioner cousin.
Charles Erhart
Charles Erhart's role in Pfizer's founding is less celebrated than his cousin's, partly because the company carries Charles Pfizer's name and partly because his commercial contributions were less visible than the scientific achievements that drove the company'…
CEOs and their tenures
Broadcom
- Henry Samueli1991–present
Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board
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.
Source - Henry Nicholas III1991–2003
Co-Founder; President and CEO of Broadcom Corporation
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.
Source - Scott McGregor2005–2016
President and CEO of Broadcom Corporation
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.
Source - Hock Tan2006–present
President and Chief Executive Officer
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).
Source - Kirsten Spears2020–2026
Chief Financial Officer
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.
Source - Amie Thuener2026–present
Chief Financial Officer
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.
Source
Pfizer
- Ian Read2010–2018
Chief Executive Officer
He ruthlessly cut R&D spending and eliminated tens of thousands of jobs, significantly boosting short-term earnings per share despite massive patent cliffs for blockbuster drugs like Lipitor.
Source - Albert Bourla2019–present
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.
Source - Dave Denton2022–2026
Chief Financial Officer
As CFO, he aggressively restructured the balance sheet following the Seagen acquisition, prioritizing debt reduction while defending the dividend.
Source - Chris Boshoff2025–present
Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development
He completely restructured the research and development organization to focus on antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), aggressively expanding Pfizer's pipeline of cancer therapeutics.
Source - Cecile Guegan2026–present
Interim Chief Financial Officer
She modernized the company's internal auditing and compliance structures, ensuring rapid but safe clinical execution for high-priority vaccine programs.
Source
Timeline: Broadcom and Pfizer side by side
1849Pfizer
Pfizer Founded
Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart founded the company in Brooklyn.
1944Pfizer
Penicillin Scale-Up
Pfizer helped industrialize penicillin production during World War II.
1991Broadcom
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.
1998Broadcom
Broadcom 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.
1998Pfizer
Viagra Approved
The FDA approved Viagra in 1998.
2000Pfizer
Warner-Lambert Deal
Pfizer acquired Warner-Lambert, adding Lipitor.
2005Broadcom
Avago 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.
2006Broadcom
Hock 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.
2009Broadcom
Avago lists on Nasdaq
Avago Technologies goes public on Nasdaq in August 2009 at $15 a share, giving it stock to use in later acquisitions.
2014Broadcom
LSI Corporation acquired
Avago completes its $6.6 billion purchase of LSI in May 2014, adding storage controllers and custom ASIC design teams.
2016Broadcom
Avago buys Broadcom Corporation
Avago completes its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom Corporation in February 2016, takes the Broadcom name and trades as AVGO.
2017Broadcom
Brocade acquired
Broadcom completes its $5.9 billion purchase of Brocade Communications in November 2017, adding Fibre Channel storage networking switches.
2018Broadcom
Qualcomm 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.
2018Broadcom
CA 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.
2019Broadcom
Symantec 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.
2019Pfizer
Albert Bourla becomes CEO
Albert Bourla became CEO of Pfizer in 2019. A veterinarian by training who joined Pfizer Animal Health in 1993, Bourla became CEO on January 1, 2019 and Chairman in 2020.
2020Pfizer
BioNTech COVID Vaccine Partnership
Pfizer and BioNTech brought Comirnaty through emergency authorization.
2022Broadcom
VMware deal announced
Broadcom agrees in May 2022 to buy VMware in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $61 billion at announcement.
2023Broadcom
VMware 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.
2023Pfizer
Seagen Acquisition
Pfizer completed the $43 billion Seagen acquisition.
2024Broadcom
Stock 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.
2025Broadcom
OpenAI 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.
2025Pfizer
Chris Boshoff Becomes CSO
Chris Boshoff became Chief Scientific Officer and President, Research & Development effective January 1, 2025.
2025Pfizer
Metsera Acquisition
Pfizer completed its acquisition of obesity drug developer Metsera in November 2025 for up to about $10 billion including CVRs.
2025Pfizer
FY2025 Revenue Base
Pfizer reported $62.579 billion of FY2025 revenue.
2026Broadcom
AI 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.
2026Pfizer
Innovent Oncology Collaboration
Pfizer signed a 12-program cancer collaboration with Innovent Biologics: $650 million upfront and up to $9.85 billion in milestones.
Acquisitions
Broadcom
- VMware2023$69B
- Symantec Enterprise Security business2019$10.7B
- CA Technologies2018$18.9B
- Brocade Communications Systems2017$5.9B
- Broadcom Corporation2016$37B
- LSI Corporation2014$6.6B
Pfizer
- Metsera, Inc.2025$7B
- Seagen Inc.2023$43B
- Medivation Inc.2016$14B
- Wyeth2009$68B
- Pharmacia Corporation2003$60B
- Warner-Lambert Company2000$111B
Questions about Broadcom vs Pfizer
Who is the CEO of Broadcom Inc. and Pfizer Inc.?
Broadcom Inc. is led by Hock Tan and Pfizer Inc. is led by Albert Bourla. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Broadcom Inc. founded vs Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. was founded in 1849 — 142 years before Broadcom Inc., which was founded in 1991. Pfizer Inc.'s longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Broadcom Inc..
How many employees does Broadcom Inc. have compared to Pfizer Inc.?
Broadcom Inc. employs approximately 33,000 people, while Pfizer Inc. employs approximately 75,000. Pfizer Inc. has the larger workforce at 75,000 employees, compared to Broadcom Inc.'s 33,000. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Broadcom Inc. and Pfizer Inc. headquartered?
Both Broadcom Inc. and Pfizer Inc. are headquartered in United States, meaning they operate under the same primary regulatory and tax environment.
Who founded Broadcom Inc. and Pfizer Inc.?
Broadcom Inc. was founded by Henry Samueli, Henry Nicholas III. Pfizer Inc. was founded by Charles Pfizer, Charles Erhart.
Which company has a longer operating history — Broadcom Inc. or Pfizer Inc.?
Pfizer Inc. has been operating for approximately 177 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Broadcom Inc. has been in operation for around 35 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Broadcom vs Pfizer overview