Fairchild Semiconductor Site

Stop on Silicon Valley Tech Heritage Tour, a free self-guided tour.

Fairchild Semiconductor, founded in 1957 by the Traitorous Eight who left Shockley Semiconductor, became the most influential company in Silicon Valley history despite being lesser known today than its offspring. At its Mountain View facility, Fairchild developed the planar process for manufacturing transistors, enabling mass production of reliable semiconductors. Co-founder Robert Noyce invented the integrated circuit here in 1959 (simultaneously with Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments), creating the silicon chip that would revolutionize electronics. Fairchild's importance lies not just in its own innovations but in its role as Silicon Valley's ultimate talent incubator. Former Fairchild employees founded over 70 companies, creating what became known as the Fairchild family tree. These spinoffs included Intel (founded by Noyce and Gordon Moore in 1968), AMD (founded by Jerry Sanders in 1969), and National Semiconductor. The Fairchild diaspora established Silicon Valley's distinctive pattern where talented engineers moved between companies, started new ventures, and maintained networks that accelerated innovation. Though the original Fairchild ultimately struggled, its legacy lives on through its descendants. The Fairchild story illustrates how one company's employees and culture can seed an entire industry, and why Silicon Valley's job mobility and acceptance of failure differ from traditional corporate cultures.