Ze'ev Drori ( he, זאב דרורי; born in Tel Aviv
) is an Israeli-born American technology entrepreneur currently residing in California. Drori was the founder and Chief Executive of
Monolithic Memories
Monolithic Memories, Inc. (MMI) produced bipolar PROMs, programmable logic devices, and logic circuits (including 7400 series TTL).
A team of MMI engineers, under the direction of Ze'ev Drori and headed by John Birkner and H. T. Chua, invente ...
, before the company merged with
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
(AMD) in 1987. He helped engineer the turnaround of struggling electric carmaker
Tesla Motors
Tesla, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational automotive and clean energy company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Tesla designs and manufactures electric vehicles (electric cars and electric truck, trucks), battery energy storage from ...
as President and CEO from 2007 to 2008.
Biography
Early life
Ze'ev Drori was born and raised in Tel Aviv, Israel. His father worked for the Tel Aviv Municipality and his mother was a homemaker.
Uninterested in school, he left home at 15 to move to
Kibbutz Hulda, where despite his young age Drori worked in the fields.
Drori enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces at 17, and moved through the ranks to become an officer in the Paratroopers Brigade.
[ As an officer at the age of 20, he led his platoon during Israel's many skirmishes with its neighbors.
At the completion of his military service, Drori passed his Israeli matriculation exams (]Bagrut
Te'udat Bagrut (, ''lit.'' "maturity certificate", Arabic: شهادة بجروت) is a certificate that attests that a student has successfully passed Israel's high school matriculation examination. Bagrut is a prerequisite for higher education ...
) and went to the United States to study. Having gained admission to the Polytechnic University of New York, Drori supported himself by working a variety of jobs, including as a chimney sweep
A chimney sweep is a person who clears soot and creosote from chimneys. The chimney uses the pressure difference caused by a hot column of gas to create a draught and draw air over the hot coals or wood enabling continued combustion. Chimneys ...
, a dishwasher/busboy, in a slaughterhouse, in a cold-storage house in the meat-packing district of New York and on a lumberyard.[ Upon receiving his B.S, Drori accepted a position with IBM in Burlington, Vermont.][ He was soon promoted to head IBM's semiconductor memory operation as the engineering manager. He left IBM after receiving a job offer from ]Fairchild Semiconductor
Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. was an American semiconductor company based in San Jose, California. Founded in 1957 as a division of Fairchild Camera and Instrument, it became a pioneer in the manufacturing of transistors and of int ...
in Mountain View, one of the pioneering Silicon Valley electronics firms. He left Fairchild to start his own company in 1970.[
]
Monolithic Memories
In 1970, Drori founded Monolithic Memories
Monolithic Memories, Inc. (MMI) produced bipolar PROMs, programmable logic devices, and logic circuits (including 7400 series TTL).
A team of MMI engineers, under the direction of Ze'ev Drori and headed by John Birkner and H. T. Chua, invente ...
, a semiconductor firm that pioneered advances in memory and logic technology.[ He served as President, CEO, Chairman of the Board and CTO of Monolithic through 1981 and as chairman of the board from 1981 to 1987. As CTO, he was responsible for the invention, development and manufacturing of the PAL (programmable array logic), the PROM (programmable read-only memory), ROM (read-only memory), and high performance signal processing chips. In 1980, Monolithic went public at $21 a share. In 1987, Monolithic merged with ]Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
(AMD) in a transaction valued at $437 million.[
]
Clifford Electronics
During his tenure as Chairman of Monolithic Memories, Drori first invested in and subsequently acquired Clifford Electronics, a fledgling car alarm manufacturer. In 1985, having given up day to day control over operations at Monolithic Memories, Drori became the full-time CEO and president. Drori brought cutting edge innovations to the auto security industry by incorporating the latest "Silicon Valley" technologies. Under his leadership the company established a strong IP position including the development of the remote control car alarms. Clifford was the OEM supplier to several foreign and domestic car makers. Clifford's rapid growth was also fueled by a national and international network of after-market dealers. Drori grew Clifford Electronics into one of the world's leading automobile security companies, before selling the company to Allstate Insurance
The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Northfield Township, Illinois, near Northbrook since 1967. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993 but still partially owned by S ...
in 1999.
Tesla Motors
In 2007, Drori was appointed President and CEO of electric carmaker Tesla Motors (now Tesla Inc.). Drori was specifically tasked with bringing the company's struggling Roadster prototype to market, which he was able to do in 2008. In October 2008, Tesla founder and major investor Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk ( ; born June 28, 1971) is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter, Inc.; founder of The Bori ...
took over as CEO. Drori was on the board as vice-chairman, but has since left the company.Tesla - Board of Directors
Ir.teslamotors.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-10.[
]
Automobile racing
An avid race car driver, Drori has been actively competing in Formula Cars since 1997. He has twice participated in the Long Beach Toyota Grand Prix, and competed in The Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear from 2005 until 2009.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drori, Zeev
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
People from Tel Aviv
Israeli Jews
Israeli businesspeople
Israeli emigrants to the United States
Tesla, Inc. people