Bill Elder,
the founder of Genus, the California semiconductor company.
Mr Elder, 62, grew up in Possilpark, Glasgow and worked in the Clyde
shipyards before leaving for San Francisco in 1968 with £500 in his pocket.
After working for an insurance firm, he took a job with the Fairchild
computer manufacturing firm and then left, in 1982, to set up Genus, which
employs 140 people and is expected to become a $100m (£69m) operation in
2002. As well as his business achievements, Mr Elder is the UK honorary
consul to Silicon Valley and a benefactor to Paisley University. |