Business
Gordon Moore
Co-founder of Intel, author of Moore's law
Born 1929 · Died 2023
Photo: Staff photographer · CC BY-SA 3.0
«The complexity for minimum component costs has increased at a rate of roughly a factor of two per year.»
Gordon Moore co-founded Intel in 1968 and helped turn the silicon chip into the engine of the modern economy. In 1965 he predicted that the number of components on a chip would double roughly every two years, a forecast that guided the industry for half a century.
Key achievements
- Co-founded Intel in 1968 with Robert Noyce
- Formulated Moore's law, which guided chips for sixty years
- Gave billions to science and conservation through his foundation
Universities
Pasadena, California
Took a PhD in chemistry and physics in 1954 before going into the semiconductor industry.
Berkeley, California
Completed his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1950 after transferring from San Jose State.
Facts
- Moore's law was not a law of physics but an observation made in a four-page magazine article, based on just five data points.
- He and Robert Noyce left Fairchild Semiconductor to start Intel with a three-paragraph business plan.
- He and his wife gave Caltech 600 million dollars in 2001, at the time the largest single gift ever made to a university.