Intel co-founder Gordon Moore dies at 94

Intel’s co-founder Gordon Moore died on Friday at the age of 94.

The announcement was made in a statement from Intel and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

The foundation reported he died peacefully surrounded by family at his home in Hawaii.

Moore and his longtime colleague Robert Noyce founded Intel in July 1968. 

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Intel co-founder Gordon Moore ( (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) / Getty Images)

He initially served as executive vice president until 1975, when he became president. In 1979, Moore was named chairman of the board and chief executive officer, posts he held until 1987 when he gave up the CEO position and continued as chairman.

In 1997, Moore became chairman emeritus, stepping down in 2006.

Moore also dedicated his focus and energy to philanthropy, particularly environmental conservation, science and patient care improvements. 

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Along with his wife of 72 years, he established the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has donated more than $5.1 billion to charitable causes since its founding in 2000.

“Those of us who have met and worked with Gordon will forever be inspired by his wisdom, humility and generosity,” reflected foundation president Harvey Fineberg. “Though he never aspired to be a household name, Gordon’s vision and his life’s work enabled the phenomenal innovation and technological developments that shape our everyday lives”.

Intel logo and semiconductors (istock / iStock)

“Gordon Moore defined the technology industry through his insight and vision,”.said Pat Gelsinger, Intel CEO. “He was instrumental in revealing the power of transistors, and inspired technologists and entrepreneurs across the decades. We at Intel remain inspired by Moore’s Law, and intend to pursue it until the periodic table is exhausted.”

Frank D. Yeary, chairman of Intel’s board of directors, said, “Gordon was a brilliant scientist and one of America’s leading entrepreneurs and business leaders. It is impossible to imagine the world we live in today, with computing so essential to our lives, without the contributions of Gordon Moore. He will always be an inspiration to our Intel family and his thinking at the core of our innovation culture.”

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Andy Bryant, former chairman of Intel’s board of directors, said, “I will remember Gordon as a brilliant scientist, a straight-talker and an astute businessperson who sought to make the world better and always do the right thing. It was a privilege to know him, and I am grateful that his legacy lives on in the culture of the company he helped to create”.

Gordon Moore, Founder of Intel ((Photo by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS/VCG via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

Prior to establishing Intel, Moore and Noyce participated in the founding of Fairchild Semiconductor, where they played central roles in the first commercial production of diffused silicon transistors and later the world’s first commercially viable integrated circuits.

 The two had previously worked together under William Shockley, the co-inventor of the transistor and founder of Shockley Semiconductor, the first semiconductor company established in what would become Silicon Valley. 

Upon striking out on their own, Moore and Noyce hired future Intel CEO Andy Grove as the third employee, and the three of them built Intel into one of the world’s great companies. Together they became known as the “Intel Trinity,” and their legacy continues today.

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Moore forecast in 1965 that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit would double every year – a prediction that came to be known as Moore’s Law.

With his 1965 prediction proven correct, in 1975, Moore revised his estimate to the doubling of transistors on an integrated circuit every two years for the next 10 years.

U.S. President George W. Bush presents Gordon Moore with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House, July 9, 2002.  (REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang   / Reuters Photos)

He received the National Medal of Technology from President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, from President George W. Bush in 2002.

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After retiring from Intel in 2006, Moore divided his time between California and Hawaii, serving as chairman of the board for the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation until transitioning to chairman emeritus in 2018. 

Moore is survived by his wife, Betty Irene Whitaker, sons Kenneth and Steven and four grandchildren.