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Global Semiconductor Maker Shifts Silicon Valley Base After Nearly $70 Billion Deal for Nearby Tech Firm

Broadcom Set To Relocate San Jose Corporate Hub to VMware Campus in Nearby Palo Alto
Broadcom paid nearly $70 billion to acquire cloud computing company VMware, one of the largest office tenants at the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California. (CoStar)&nbsp;<br>
Broadcom paid nearly $70 billion to acquire cloud computing company VMware, one of the largest office tenants at the Stanford Research Park in Palo Alto, California. (CoStar) 
CoStar News
December 1, 2023 | 9:23 P.M.

A Silicon Valley tech giant is moving in with another following one of the tech industry's largest acquisition deals of the year.

Broadcom, a semiconductor and software maker, confirmed it will be relocating its global headquarters from San Jose, California, to nearby Palo Alto after closing its nearly $70 billion purchase of cloud computing company VMware.

Prior to last month's acquisition and the decision to relocate, Broadcom was based in roughly 109,000 square feet of the San Jose building it owns at 1320 Ridder Park Drive.

Its new corporate hub will encompass VMware's 1.6 million-square-foot Palo Alto campus at 3401 Hillview Ave., an 18-building development spread across roughly 105 acres in the city's Stanford Research Park.

It is one of Silicon Valley's largest corporate campuses and includes features such as natural trails and water features, on-site cafes, electric vehicle charging stations and a 10,000-square-foot athletic facility. There is even a secret meditative Zen garden hidden behind one of the newer campus buildings.

It isn't immediately clear whether the move to VMware's campus, which Broadcom CEO Hock Tan disclosed to employees earlier this week, will result in any changes to the tech company's real estate footprint in the Silicon Valley area.

Representatives for Broadcom did not immediately respond to CoStar News' requests to comment.

Need for Space

Even though VMware's new parent company decided this week to lay off about 1,200 Bay Area-based workers, the headquarters move isn't expected to result in any real estate reductions given that it coincides with Broadcom's emphasis on in-person work.

VMware employees had been able to take advantage of a flexible remote work policy. However, Broadcom's CEO said that policy would be revoked, and all employees would need to return to in-person work.

"Remote work does not exist at Broadcom," Tan said at a recent company meeting, adding that all employees living within 60 miles of a company office were expected to be in person for the complete work week.

Up until the merger, the two companies operated on opposite spectrums of the remote work debate. VMware allowed its employees to work from anywhere, and even when its campus reopened in mid-2021, few returned.

But Broadcom opened its offices as soon as local ordinances allowed it to do so, and Tan even served on former President Donald Trump's "Opening the Country" council. When asked about VMware's flexible work policy prior to the acquisition, Tan confirmed his pro-office stance.

"VMware has a beautiful campus in Palo Alto that remains empty," he said at an all-hands meeting in August, according to reporting by Business Insider. "Real estate isn't cheap."

In addition to its soon-to-be-former Ridder Park Drive headquarters building, Broadcom occupies three others throughout San Jose.

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