Traitorous Eight
Encyclopedia
The Traitorous Eight, as they became known, are eight men who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory
to form Fairchild Semiconductor
in 1957. More neutral terms include the "Fairchild Eight" and the "Shockley Eight." They have sometimes been called "Fairchildren," although this term has been also used to refer either to Fairchild alumni or to its spinoff companies.
The Eight are Julius Blank
, Victor Grinich
, Jean Hoerni
, Eugene Kleiner
, Jay Last
, Gordon Moore
, Robert Noyce
and Sheldon Roberts
.
Gordon Moore
and Robert Noyce
were later known as the cofounders of Intel.
's authoritarian managerial style and his practice of expecting a certain result instead of letting the research guide the process. There is no record of Shockley ever using the term "traitorous eight," and his wife denied that he ever used it.
The eight employees went to Arnold Beckman and asked him to replace Shockley. Beckman tried to find a new manager and left Shockley as a director with limited powers. As the search dragged on, it became apparent that Beckman could not find a replacement, so he restored Shockley's responsibilities. The eight men then resigned and signed a research contract with Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation to form Fairchild Semiconductor
.
Their entrepreneurial desires did not end with Fairchild. Like many other Fairchild employees, seven of the eight went on to found various spinoff companies. These spinoffs and their founders are sometimes known as "Fairchildren". The most successful were Noyce and Moore, founders of Intel, and Kleiner, co-founder of the Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm. Additionally, Roberts, Hoerni and Last founded what later became Teledyne
, while Blank co-founded Xicor. Grinich became a professor at UC Berkeley and Stanford University
.
companies in Silicon Valley. It is a play on the words "Fairchild" and "children," the latter referring to the formation of (unofficial) spin-off companies from a parent company.
In research, reporting and popular lore related to Silicon Valley, the term "Fairchildren" has been variously used to refer to:
Note that there is an overlap among the last three categories, as some of the Fairchild Eight (such as Noyce and Eugene Kleiner
) left Fairchild to form other companies.
gave the “Legends of California Award” to the Eight. Blank, Last, Moore and Roberts' son Dave attended the event in San Francisco.
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory
Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory, the primary lab of the Shockley Transistor Company, was the first company to work on silicon semiconductor devices in what came to be known as Silicon Valley. It was purchased by Clevite in 1960, and officially closed shortly after being sold to ITT in 1968...
to form Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
in 1957. More neutral terms include the "Fairchild Eight" and the "Shockley Eight." They have sometimes been called "Fairchildren," although this term has been also used to refer either to Fairchild alumni or to its spinoff companies.
The Eight are Julius Blank
Julius Blank
Julius Blank was a semiconductor pioneer and a member of the so-called Traitorous Eight associated with Nobel-winning physicist William Shockley....
, Victor Grinich
Victor Grinich
Victor Grinich was a pioneer in the semiconductor industry and a member of the Traitorous Eight that founded Silicon Valley....
, Jean Hoerni
Jean Hoerni
Jean Amédée Hoerni was a silicon transistor pioneer and a member of the Traitorous Eight. He was remembered for developing the planar process....
, Eugene Kleiner
Eugene Kleiner
Eugene Kleiner was one of the original founders of Kleiner Perkins, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm which later became Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers....
, Jay Last
Jay Last
Jay T. Last is a silicon pioneer and a member of the so-called Traitorous Eight that founded Silicon Valley.He was born in 1929 in Butler, Pennsylvania. He earned his bachelor's degree in Optics at the University of Rochester in 1951 and his Ph.D...
, Gordon Moore
Gordon Moore
Gordon Earle Moore is the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation and the author of Moore's Law .-Life and career:...
, Robert Noyce
Robert Noyce
Robert Norton Noyce , nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968...
and Sheldon Roberts
Sheldon Roberts
C. Sheldon Roberts is a semiconductor pioneer, and member of the Traitorous Eight who founded Silicon Valley.He earned a Bachelor's degree in metallurgical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1948, and a Master's degree in 1949 and Ph.D...
.
Gordon Moore
Gordon Moore
Gordon Earle Moore is the co-founder and Chairman Emeritus of Intel Corporation and the author of Moore's Law .-Life and career:...
and Robert Noyce
Robert Noyce
Robert Norton Noyce , nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968...
were later known as the cofounders of Intel.
History
According to authors Joseph Blasi, Douglas Kruse, and Aaron Bernstein, these eight men left because they did not agree with William ShockleyWilliam Shockley
William Bradford Shockley Jr. was an American physicist and inventor. Along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain, Shockley co-invented the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s...
's authoritarian managerial style and his practice of expecting a certain result instead of letting the research guide the process. There is no record of Shockley ever using the term "traitorous eight," and his wife denied that he ever used it.
The eight employees went to Arnold Beckman and asked him to replace Shockley. Beckman tried to find a new manager and left Shockley as a director with limited powers. As the search dragged on, it became apparent that Beckman could not find a replacement, so he restored Shockley's responsibilities. The eight men then resigned and signed a research contract with Fairchild Camera and Instrument Corporation to form Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. is an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957, it was a pioneer in transistor and integrated circuit manufacturing...
.
Their entrepreneurial desires did not end with Fairchild. Like many other Fairchild employees, seven of the eight went on to found various spinoff companies. These spinoffs and their founders are sometimes known as "Fairchildren". The most successful were Noyce and Moore, founders of Intel, and Kleiner, co-founder of the Kleiner Perkins venture capital firm. Additionally, Roberts, Hoerni and Last founded what later became Teledyne
Teledyne
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an industrial conglomerate primarily based in the United States but with global operations. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky....
, while Blank co-founded Xicor. Grinich became a professor at UC Berkeley and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
.
Fairchildren
The term "Fairchildren" refers to the seminal role that Fairchild Semiconductor played in spawning spin-offSpin out
A spin-out, also known as a spin-off or a starburst, refers to a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" sections of itself as a separate business....
companies in Silicon Valley. It is a play on the words "Fairchild" and "children," the latter referring to the formation of (unofficial) spin-off companies from a parent company.
In research, reporting and popular lore related to Silicon Valley, the term "Fairchildren" has been variously used to refer to:
- The corporate spin-offs created by former employees of Fairchild Semiconductor. This is the usage of historian Leslie Berlin in her 2001 journal article, in her 2001 doctoral dissertation, and in her biography of Robert NoyceRobert NoyceRobert Norton Noyce , nicknamed "the Mayor of Silicon Valley", co-founded Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957 and Intel in 1968...
. - The foundersEntrepreneurAn entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
of such firms. This is the earliest usage, e.g. Tom Wolfe's 1983 profile of Noyce or a 5,000-word profile of Silicon Valley in 1999. - Former Fairchild Semiconductor employees, as in a 1988 New York Times article.
- The original founders of Fairchild Semiconductor, more commonly known as the "Traitorous Eight", "Fairchild Eight" or "Shockley Eight". This has been used by a PBS website and a book on stock options.
Note that there is an overlap among the last three categories, as some of the Fairchild Eight (such as Noyce and Eugene Kleiner
Eugene Kleiner
Eugene Kleiner was one of the original founders of Kleiner Perkins, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm which later became Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers....
) left Fairchild to form other companies.
Honors
In May, 2011, the California Historical SocietyCalifornia Historical Society
The California Historical Society is California's official state historical society and is located in San Francisco, California at 678 Mission Street -History and collections:...
gave the “Legends of California Award” to the Eight. Blank, Last, Moore and Roberts' son Dave attended the event in San Francisco.