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Ch 4 · The Dealmaker
Chapter 4 · Management
Hock Tan built Broadcom by buying — and squeezing.
One of tech's most ruthless, effective capital allocators.
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✦ The bottom line
Hock Tan built Broadcom through serial acquisitions — then cut costs, raised prices, and returned the cash. The model has been one of the great value-creation runs in tech.
↓ the brief below
The dealmaker's playbook
2006-
Hock Tan takes the helm of Avago; turns acquisition into a discipline.
2016-19
Buys Broadcom, CA, and Symantec — each cut to the bone, run for cash.
2023
Closes the $69B VMware deal — and sharply raises its prices.
Now
Rides the custom AI chip wave while still returning billions to owners.
Owner-friendly · cash returned this quarter
$10.9
B
Returned $10.9B to shareholders in one quarter — $3.1B dividends and $7.8B buybacks — and authorized a new $10B repurchase program.
Source · 8-K · Item 2.02 — CFO commentary & capital return · Q1 FY26 · Filed Mar 4, 2026
Skin in the game
CEO Hock Tan holds a substantial personal stake in Broadcom, and the company's stated priority is returning excess cash to shareholders through dividends and buybacks.
↳ A capital allocator who owns a lot of the company tends to treat shareholders' money like his own — because it is.
Source · proxy · Security Ownership & Compensation (per Broadcom's 2026 DEF 14A) · Filed Mar 2, 2026
✓
Strong
A proven dealmaker returning $10.9B to owners in a single quarter.
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Chapter 4 · MANAGEMENT
The Dealmaker
you now read: skin in the game
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Then
Chapter 6 · RISK
Built on Debt and a Few Big Customers