Broadcom

The European Commission opened an antitrust investigation into Broadcom in October 2024 over concerns the company is using anticompetitive practices following its $69 billion VMware acquisition. The investigation focuses on allegations that Broadcom is tying VMware products together to force customers into comprehensive deals, restricting interoperability with competing products, and using its dominant position to lock customers into its ecosystem. The European Cloud Competition Observatory gave Broadcom a 'red' rating indicating serious competitive concerns.

Following Broadcom's $69 billion VMware acquisition in November 2023, the company implemented dramatic price increases of 800-1,500% and eliminated perpetual licenses in favor of subscription-only models. This triggered multiple lawsuits: AT&T sued over licensing changes (settled), UK supermarket chain Tesco filed a £100 million lawsuit alleging Broadcom is forcing massive overpayment and threatening to shut down systems, and numerous other customers reported similar experiences. Broadcom's approach has been characterized as 'predatory' with customers facing 10-15x cost increases.

In 2023, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan earned $161.8 million in total compensation, up 167% from the previous year. This represented a CEO-to-median worker pay ratio of 510-to-1, making him the third-highest-paid CEO in the US.

CEO Hock Tan told staff that VMware's remote-friendly policies would end: 'Remote work does not exist at Broadcom.' When asked about exceptions, Tan said 'you better learn how to walk on water, I'm serious.' Only sales workers and those living 60+ miles from an office were exempt.

Following Broadcom's November 2023 acquisition of VMware, the company conducted mass layoffs affecting 2,000-3,000 employees across California, Colorado, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Partners described the situation as 'chaos'.

In April 2020, CEO Hock Tan drew criticism when he forced employees to return to work for one week per month during the COVID-19 outbreak, while many tech companies maintained remote work policies.