Gordon Earle Moore, who became a legendary Silicon Valley figure by cofounding microchip makers Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor and for formulating his famous law about the inevitable advances to come from chip technology, died Friday. He was 94.
Intel’s phenomenal growth inspired legions of tech entrepreneurs across the valley and elsewhere while making Moore one of the richest men on the planet. But he was a down-home, self-effacing person who was rarely happier than when he was off in some wilderness fishing. And he was praised for donating much of his wealth to environmental and other causes.
Born Jan. 3, 1929, in San Francisco, Moore was raised in Pescadero and