Diosdado P. Banatao | |
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Born |
Malabbac, Iguig, Cagayan, Philippines |
May 23, 1946
Citizenship | American |
Alma mater |
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Occupation | Founder & Managing Partner of Tallwood Venture Capital, CEO of Ikanos Communications, Chairman of Philippine Development Foundation |
Known for | single-chips, PHY chip |
Board member of | T-RAM Semiconductor, Inc., , Alphion Corporation, Sirf Technology Inc., Quintic Corporation, Wilocity Ltd., Integrated Micro-Electronics |
Spouse(s) | Maria Cariaga |
Children |
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Parent(s) | Salvador and Rosita Banatao |
Diosdado P. Banatao (born May 23, 1946 in the small barrio of Malabbac in the town of Iguig, Cagayan, Philippines) is a Filipino-American entrepreneur and engineer working in the high-tech industry, credited with having developed the first 10-Mbit Ethernet CMOS with silicon coupler data-link control and transreceiver chip, the first system logic chip set for IBM's PC-XT and the PC-AT, and the local bus concept and the first Windows Graphics accelerator chip for personal computers. A three-time start-up veteran, he co-founded Mostron, Chips and Technologies, and S3 Graphics.
Banatao was born on May 23, 1946 in Malabbac, Iguig, Cagayan, Philippines. His father, Salvador Banatao, was a rice farmer. His mother, Rosita Banatao, was a housekeeper.
Banatao is known for his rags to riches story. During his childhood, he walked barefoot on a dirt road just to reach Malabbac Elementary School. He pursued his secondary education at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Tuguegarao. After high school, he pursued his Bachelor of Science in Electric Engineering from the Mapúa Institute of Technology and graduated cum laude.
After college, he turned down several job offers, including one from Meralco. He joined Philippine Airlines as a trainee pilot, and was later pirated by Boeing. At Boeing, he worked as a design engineer for the company's new commercial airliner and cargo transport aircraft, Boeing 747, in the United States. With the opportunity to stay in the United States, he then took his Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Stanford University and finished in 1972. Banatao also joined the Homebrew Computer Club, where he met Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.