How is Irvine-based Broadcom continuing to grow its business? By acquisitions, it seems. Broadcom has acquired at least 48 companies since 1999. As an unintended side effect, those acquisitions have made Broadcom a major player in Israel's high tech industry, according to the article from ZDNet, where the firm has acquired 11 companies in the last four years. The article says that Broadcom has about 800 employees in Israel.