TIME100 AI 2026 · Leaders
Hock Tan
CEO, Broadcom
Broadcom's CEO was once a vice president at Commodore, the 1980s home computer maker founded by Jack Tramiel.
- Born
- Penang, Malaya
- Now
- President and CEO, Broadcom
- Studied
- MIT, Harvard University
Interesting facts
- Early start
Left Penang for MIT on a scholarship in 1971 and earned both a bachelor's and a master's in mechanical engineering in 1975.
en.wikipedia.org - Detour
Worked in finance at General Motors and PepsiCo, then went home to Malaysia and later ran a Singapore venture capital firm he co-founded.
en.wikipedia.org - Turning point
Bid $117 billion for rival Qualcomm in 2017, which would have been the biggest tech deal ever, until the US government blocked it in 2018.
en.wikipedia.org - Connection
Broadcom's custom AI chip business started with Google, co-developing the tensor processing units first deployed in 2015.
time.com - In their words
Compared companies' AI spending to a kid who burns $10 of arcade tokens in 10 minutes and learns nothing.
qz.com
Career
- BroadcomPresident and CEO2006 to now
- Integrated Circuit SystemsPresident and CEO1994–2005
- Commodore InternationalVice President of Finance1992–1994
- Pacven InvestmentManaging Director and co-founder
- Hume IndustriesDirector
- PepsiCoFinance roles
- General MotorsFinance roles
Education
- MS, Mechanical engineering, MIT, 1975
- BS, Mechanical engineering, MIT, 1975
- MBA, Harvard University