Poor skinny kid from Malaysia makes it really big

Hock Tan, CEO of Broadcom, shakes hands with then U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S. November 2, 2017. REUTERS

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 VMW.N Chairman Michael Dell, also the chief executive of computer maker Dell Technologies Inc DELL.N.