The Electric: An Afternoon With Chip Tycoon T.J. Rodgers on His Latest Act—Batteries

In the 1980s and 1990s, Silicon Valley revolved around semiconductors, and T.J. Rodgers stood out. The company he founded, Cypress Semiconductor, was relatively small, but a 1991 BusinessWeek cover story showcased him as “The Bad Boy of Silicon Valley,” and The New York Times declared him “Silicon Valley’s most flamboyant cowboy capitalist.” This fireplug of a man attracted outsize attention in part from his readiness to express outrageous opinions and curse up a storm in attacks on fellow industry leaders, the government and even a nun. Over time, though, Cypress faded from view, and so did Rodgers. 

Or so it seemed. On a recent morning, Rodgers—now 75—is talking on his cellphone at his Woodside, Calif., home, which overlooks a backyard vineyard that produces Domaine du Docteur Rodgers, his signature $100-a-bottle pinot noir. He has spent the morning working in his outdoor hot tub; he had to curtail his usual morning run because of icy rain. After he left Cypress, Rodgers tried retirement but got bored. So for the last seven or so years, he’s been following the above routine—hot tub while working, followed by a run—while pursuing a second act in renewable energy. On the phone, he’s telling me about Enovix, one of the hottest names in lithium-ion battery development. Rodgers chairs Enovix, which is headquartered across the San Francisco Bay in Fremont, and is its largest shareholder. Over the last year, the company has stumbled attempting to mass-produce batteries for consumer electronics. But Rodgers claims Enovix, if it rights itself, can rival his biggest triumphs, including Enphase, a solar microinverter developer whose shares have risen from 92 cents to $160 since he and venture capitalist John Doerr invested $10 million in 2017 and replaced the management. “I tell the boys at Enovix, ‘You guys are smart and you work hard, but some day when you grow up and do as well as you can, you can have a track record like that as well,’” said Rodgers.