Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory

Established as a division of Beckman Instruments, Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory was founded by William Shockley in Mountain View, CA in 1956 to develop diffused silicon transistors based on technology developed by Bell Labs. The company never recovered from the defection of eight key scientists and engineers to form Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957. Beckman sold the division to Clevite Corporation in 1960 after losing his $1 million investment.