November 26, 2003 – Eugene Kleiner, one of Silicon Valley’s founding fathers, passed away on Nov. 20 at the age of 80.
Kleiner was part of a group of scientists (the “Traitorous Eight,” having rebuffed an invitation to stay with Nobel Prize winner William Shockley) who were instrumental in the formation of Fairchild Semiconductor in the 1950s.
He also was an early investor in Intel with Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, and co-founded Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers, one of the most formidable investment firms in the technology industry.