Broadcom relocates headquarters to campus from VMware acquisition 

One of the Bay Area’s biggest tech outfits plans to shift its headquarters from San Jose to neighboring Palo Alto, occupying the 1.6 million-square-foot campus of the latest competitor it has taken over.

Semiconductor maker Broadcom will exit 1320 Ridder Park Drive in North San Jose for the VMware campus it got as part of a recent $69 billion acquisition of its former competitor, the Silicon Valley Business Journal reported. 

The new headquarters of Broadcom is at 3401 Hillview Avenue in Palo Alto. 

The move casts uncertainty on Broadcom’s current portfolio of real estate in the Bay Area, including the Ridder Drive building and three others in North San Jose. Some sources told the Silicon Valley publication that Broadcom will retain all of the properties in the near term as it folds thousands of former VMware employees into its operations.

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan took the opportunity of an all-hands meeting to lay out requirements of a full return to office. That’s a switch for the new arrivals, who had resisted back-to-office efforts under VMware. The reluctance led VMWare to institute a flexible remote-work policy prior to the company’s sale to Broadcom.

“Remote work does not exist at Broadcom,” Tan said at Wednesday’s meeting, according to an audio recording purportedly shared with the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Tan said the policy applies to all employees living within 60 miles of a Broadcom office.

The CEO injected some humor into his call for a full return to office — but left little doubt of his intention.

“If you are customer-facing, go-to-market (sales), then sure, you can be remote, I don’t care.” He continued: “Any other exception, you better learn how to walk on water, I’m serious.”