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Broadcom is one of the two largest companies headquartered in Palo Alto. It designs chips used in data centers, networks, phones and storage systems. It also sells infrastructure software, much of it from its 2023 purchase of VMware. Since November 2023 its headquarters has been on the former VMware campus on Hillview Avenue in Stanford Research Park.
The name on the building came from Southern California. Much of the company underneath it came from Palo Alto. Broadcom's own annual report says its history dates back to AT&T and Bell Labs, Lucent and Hewlett-Packard. The Hewlett-Packard line runs from a 1961 chip division through Agilent and Avago to today's Broadcom Inc. That makes the move to Hillview Avenue something of a homecoming.
What Broadcom does
Broadcom works in two broad areas. The first is semiconductors. It sells networking chips, custom processors for large cloud companies, wireless parts for phones, storage and broadband chips and optical components. Most people never see these parts, but they sit inside switches, servers and handsets around the world.
The second area is infrastructure software. Broadcom began buying software companies in 2018, starting with CA Technologies. It later added Symantec's enterprise security business and VMware. Its software is sold mostly to large corporations and governments that run their own data centers.
The fiscal 2025 annual report describes the company as designing, developing and supplying semiconductor and infrastructure software products. It lists acquisitions of LSI, Broadcom Corporation, Brocade, CA, Symantec's enterprise security business and VMware as part of how the company reached its present size.
Roots inside Hewlett-Packard
The corporate line that became Broadcom Inc. started in 1961 as HP Associates, a semiconductor products division of Hewlett-Packard. HP was then a Palo Alto company through and through, with its headquarters on Page Mill Road. Our Hewlett-Packard profile covers the parent company's story from the garage onward.
In 1999 HP split off its test, measurement and components businesses as Agilent Technologies. The semiconductor group went with Agilent, which set up its first headquarters at 395 Page Mill Road. The Agilent profile tells that part.
In 2005 the private equity firms KKR and Silver Lake bought Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group for about $2.6 billion and named it Avago Technologies. Avago went public on Nasdaq on August 6, 2009, under the ticker AVGO. The company still trades under that symbol today.
Where the Broadcom name came from
The original Broadcom Corporation was a separate company. Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas founded it in Southern California in 1991. It grew into a major maker of communications chips for cable boxes, broadband modems and wireless devices. Samueli is chairman of today's Broadcom Inc.
In 2016 Avago bought Broadcom Corporation and took its name. The combined company was first called Broadcom Limited. It became Broadcom Inc. after it announced on November 2, 2017, that it would move its legal home from Singapore to Delaware. The old Broadcom Corporation lives on as a subsidiary.
Hock Tan, who has led the business since the Avago years, is president and chief executive. Under him the company grew mainly by acquisition. A 2017 attempt to buy Qualcomm was blocked by a presidential order in 2018, after which Broadcom turned to software deals instead.
The 2023 move to Palo Alto
Before the VMware deal, Broadcom's headquarters was at 1320 Ridder Park Drive in North San Jose. Broadcom completed its roughly $69 billion purchase of VMware on November 22, 2023. Within days it moved its corporate headquarters onto VMware's campus on Hillview Avenue. Our VMware profile covers that company's founding in Palo Alto in 1998 and its years on the campus.
Broadcom did not keep the whole site. In January 2024 it put 13 buildings on the campus up for sale while keeping roughly 600,000 square feet of offices for itself. Harvest Properties and TPG Real Estate bought those buildings in 2025. General Motors later leased about 340,000 square feet at 3411 Hillview Avenue, next door to Broadcom.
Which Hillview Avenue address?
Readers will see two street numbers for Broadcom. VMware used 3401 Hillview Avenue for years. Many news reports from 2023 and 2024 give that address for Broadcom's new headquarters. Our own VMware page uses it too.
Broadcom's annual report for the fiscal year ended November 2, 2025 lists its principal executive offices at 3421 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94304. That is the address to use for formal mail to the company. Both numbers sit on the same campus along the same stretch of road, so for anyone driving or biking past, the difference does not matter.
The same filing explains the land. It says the company holds about 561,000 square feet of property in Palo Alto under a 40-year ground lease from the Stanford University Board of Trustees. That lease runs to May 2046 and has no renewal option. Stanford does not sell land in the research park. Every company there leases, as our Stanford Research Park guide explains.
Size and workforce
Broadcom reported about 33,000 employees worldwide as of November 2, 2025. About 57 percent worked in research and development. About 49 percent were in North America, 36 percent in Asia and 15 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
The company does not say how many of those people work in Palo Alto. The headquarters campus holds executives, corporate staff and software teams, but the report says the company's engineering is spread across sites mainly in the United States, Asia and Europe. Its primary warehouse is in Malaysia, according to the same report.
This page does not comment on Broadcom's stock or business outlook. For financial details, read the company's own filings.
Broadcom timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1961 | HP Associates founded as a Hewlett-Packard semiconductor division. |
| 1991 | Henry Samueli and Henry Nicholas found the original Broadcom Corporation in Southern California. |
| 1999 | HP's semiconductor group moves to Agilent Technologies in the HP split. |
| 2005 | KKR and Silver Lake buy the group and form Avago Technologies. |
| August 6, 2009 | Avago lists on Nasdaq as AVGO. |
| 2016 | Avago buys Broadcom Corporation and takes the Broadcom name. |
| November 2, 2017 | Plan announced to move the legal home from Singapore to Delaware. |
| November 2018 | CA Technologies purchase completed. |
| November 22, 2023 | VMware purchase completed; headquarters moves to Hillview Avenue. |
| 2025 | Thirteen surplus campus buildings sold to Harvest Properties and TPG Real Estate. |
Broadcom's place in the local ecosystem
Broadcom is now one of the two big corporate headquarters in the city, alongside HP Inc. on Page Mill Road. The two sit a short drive apart in the same research park. Both trace part of their history to the company Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started in 1939. Few cities can say that about their two largest headquarters.
Its arrival also reshaped the Hillview Avenue corridor. The surplus buildings it sold have filled with automakers and other technology tenants, which keeps the research park busy at a time when many office parks around the Bay Area sit half empty. The research park's cafes and lunch spots are listed in our guide to where to eat near Stanford Research Park.
Broadcom does not run a public program or museum in Palo Alto. Its local presence shows up mostly in traffic on Hillview Avenue and Foothill Expressway at rush hour, in jobs and in the city's business tax base.
Visiting notes
Good to know
- The campus is private. There are no tours, no lobby exhibits and no public courtyard access.
- Hillview Avenue runs through the research park close to Foothill Expressway. A bike or car is the practical way to pass by.
- Do not enter parking garages or walk between buildings. Security patrols the campus.
- If you are in town for a meeting, our business travel guide covers hotels, transit and timing.
For a wider loop that takes in HP, Xerox PARC, Tesla and other research park landmarks, use our famous tech addresses tour. The full list of Palo Alto company profiles is on our companies hub.
Frequently asked questions
Where is Broadcom's headquarters?
Broadcom is headquartered in Palo Alto. Its annual report for the fiscal year ended November 2, 2025 lists its principal executive offices at 3421 Hillview Avenue in Stanford Research Park, on the former VMware campus. Many older sources use 3401 Hillview Avenue, VMware's longtime address on the same campus.
When did Broadcom move to Palo Alto?
Broadcom moved its corporate headquarters from 1320 Ridder Park Drive in North San Jose to the Hillview Avenue campus in November 2023, right after it completed its purchase of VMware on November 22, 2023.
Is Broadcom connected to Hewlett-Packard?
Yes. Broadcom's own filings trace its history partly to Hewlett-Packard. The business began in 1961 as HP Associates, a semiconductor division of HP. It went to Agilent Technologies in the 1999 split, became Avago Technologies in 2005 and took the Broadcom name after buying Broadcom Corporation in 2016.
Can you visit Broadcom's Palo Alto campus?
No. The Hillview Avenue campus is a private office complex with security and no visitor center, store or tours. You can see the low buildings and landscaping from Hillview Avenue itself.
How many people work for Broadcom?
Broadcom reported about 33,000 employees worldwide as of November 2, 2025, with about 49 percent in North America. It does not publish a separate headcount for its Palo Alto headquarters.