Henry Nicholas is the co-founder of Broadcom with an estimated net worth of $1.98 billion in May 2016 according to Forbes. In the “Forbes 400” list, he is the 347th richest person. He is also ranked 1031st in the list of World Billionaires. Born Henry Thompson Nicholas III in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1959, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of California in Los Angeles. He also attended the U.S. Air Force Academy then went to earn his MS and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.

Nicholas began acquiring his estimated net worth of $1.98 billion when he started his career at TRW. There he met Dr. Henry Samueli who was a professor of engineering at UCLA and later became his business partner. He later went to PairGen Technologies and became the director of Microelectronics. In 1991, he left PairGen to start Broadcom Corporation with Samueli and each one has invested $5,000. They took the semiconductor company public in 1998 which became an electronic manufacturing powerhouse. It has reached $1 billion in annual revenue which is faster than any U.S. semiconductor company in history. In 2011, its revenues reached $7.4 billion.

According to Henry Nicholas who is a music enthusiast, his inspiration were Pink Floyd lyrics to create Broadcom. He retired from the company in 2003 but he still remains as one of the biggest shareholders in the company. Though he faced separate charges on drug distribution and options backdating several years ago, both were dismissed in 2010. He switched his focus on philanthropy and founded the Nicholas Academic Centers which have sent more than 230 students to top-ranked universities across the nation. His Henry T. Nicholas Foundation frequently gives to Episcopal community causes and to the arts and education programs.