Tech Companies

Broadcom Corp.

Overview
Culture
Recruiting
Facts & Resources
Subsidiaries & Divisions
Competitors

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Overview

Broadcom Corp. is a leading provider of integrated circuits that run networking equipment and other telecommunications gear, both wireless and wireline. Based in Irvine, Calif., Broadcom makes no chips of its own but instead focuses on designing and engineering them. Most of the leading makers of networking equipment, including Cisco Systems Inc., are Broadcom customers.

Broadcom Corp. was founded in 1991 by Henry T. Nicholas III and Henry Samueli, two engineers who at the time had more than three decades of experience designing integrated circuits for communications equipment. The company is laden with talented engineers and Broadcom's ASICs, or application specific integrated circuits, often push the innovation envelope for communication chips.

The company has weathered more than its share of legal controversy during the past decade. Federal prosecutors recently asked a judge to dismiss narcotics trafficking charges against Nicholas, wiping out the last criminal charges against him. The decision came three weeks after a federal judge dismissed charges that Nicholas, Samueli and the company's former chief financial officer manipulated stock option grants to enrich company employees.

Culture

Broadcom describes its culture as “A Community of Talent.” Its culture emphasizes collaboration, cooperation and distributed decision-making. Select new employees are invited to an brown-bag lunch series with top executives, including the CEO and founders. In 2009, Electronic Design magazine named Broadcom among the Top 50 Employers in electronic design.

Broadcom's headquarters next to the campus of University of California Irvine sits among sagebrush hills and features natural lighting and sliding opaque glass doors that lend the nine buildings a Zen vibe. Homey touches include framed art by kids of employees. Perks include a full gym, a cafeteria serving multicultural cuisine and tuition reimbursement for job-related courses and degrees.