Traitorous Eight
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The Traitorous Eight are eight men who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory to form Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. It is said that this derogatory term was first used[citation needed] by William Shockley, director of Shockley Labs. More neutral terms include the "Fairchild Eight" and the "Shockley Eight." They have sometimes been called "Fairchildren," although this term has been used to refer either to Fairchild alumni or to its spinoff companies.
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[edit] The Eight
- Julius Blank
- Victor Grinich
- Jean Hoerni
- Eugene Kleiner
- Jay Last
- Gordon Moore
- Robert Noyce
- Sheldon Roberts
[edit] History
These eight men left because they did not agree with William Shockley's managerial style. Specifically, he wanted the research done his way and expected a certain result instead of letting the research guide them. Shockley envisioned the operation of the Laboratory as if the researchers were the Knights of the Round Table and he was King Arthur.[1] There is no record of Shockley ever using the term "traitorous eight," and his wife denied that he ever used it.[2]
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.
[edit] References
- ^ Blasi, Joseph; "Douglas Kruse, and Aaron Bernstein" (2003). "1", In the Company of Owners: The Truth About Stock Options (And Why Every Employee Should Have Them). Basic Books, 7.
- ^ Shurkin, Joel (2006). Broken Genius: The Rise and Fall of William Shockley. Macmillan.
