How Broadcom CEO Tan shaped a tech giant through acquisitions
Once a poor "skinny kid" from Malaysia, Hock Tan was going head-to-head with a legendary U.S. technology mogul for a transformative acquisition.
Tan placed a call earlier this month to VMware Inc Chairman Michael Dell, also the chief executive of computer maker Dell Technologies Inc.
He proposed one of the biggest tie-ups in the history of the technology sector. Broadcom Inc, the chip maker that Tan leads, was willing to acquire VMware, a cloud software company for $61 billion.
For Tan, now 70, the deal would be the culmination of a string of acquisitions that has helped him turn Broadcom into a technology conglomerate worth $225 billion, along the way building a reputation as an astute dealmaker and ruthless cost-cutter.
Dell, who personally owns 40 per cent of VMware and controls it ...