18 July 1968: Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore found Intel
Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore left Fairchild Semiconductor and founded a new company, soon named Intel. Their goal was semiconductor memory, but their lasting fame came from microprocessors that powered the personal computer revolution. Moore's observation that chip complexity doubled at a steady pace became an industry rule of thumb for decades. Intel showed how much value two talented founders could create, and later, how hard it is to stay on top.
The lesson: Great founders can build giants, but no lead in technology is permanent without constant reinvention.
What it meant for investors
$1,000 in Intel at the start of 1990 → $44,444 today, vs $19,429 in the S&P 500.
We start the clock at the start of 1990, the first year in our price data after the event. That is 44.4 times the money, and $25,016 more than a plain index fund made over the same years.
What Intel teaches: Market leadership is not permanent; Intel's manufacturing edge looked unassailable for decades and eroded through a handful of missed bets and execution slips.
| Bought in | Price then | Worth today | S&P 500 would be |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | $0.9 | $44,444 | $19,429 |
| 1995 | $3.90 | $10,256 | $14,783 |
| 2000 | $41.00 | $976 | $4,626 |
green = beat the S&P 500 · red = lost money
What if you bought Intel? Every starting year and the full story →
More Intel history
- 22 March 1993: Intel introduces the Pentium
- 6 June 2005: Apple announces a switch to Intel chips
- 1 November 1999: Microsoft and Intel join the Dow
- 15 November 1971: Intel advertises the first microprocessor
Could you have called it at the time? The wheel picks the year, you pick the position, ten seconds a pick.
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