Unstoppable: The Unlikely Story of a Silicon Valley Godfather

Chris Clay, the son of the late Roy L. Clay Sr., will share the story of his father's journey that led him to Silicon Valley, where he garnered the nickname "The Godfather of Silicon Valley." Unstoppable, by Roy L. Clay Sr. and M. H. Jackson, explores the life of Roy L. Clay Sr. from his time as a teenager using his uncanny math skills to run a back-room craps game in segregated, rural Missouri to his rise as a Silicon Valley technology pioneer. Personally recruited to Hewlett-Packard by Dave Packard in 1965, Clay Sr. was a founding member of the computer division where he led the team that created the HP 2116A.

As Clay Sr. rose to become one of the highest-ranking Black employees at HP, he used his position to help the company improve its efforts to combat discrimination and inequality. After leaving HP, he established his own consulting company and worked closely with Tom Perkins (Kleiner Perkins) to shape Silicon Valley as we know it today. Clay Sr. also served as the first Black City Councilman in Palo Alto, became Vice Mayor of the City, and was inducted into the Silicon Valley Hall of Fame. Unstoppable has been featured by Stephen Curry’s Underrated Book Club, USA Today, NBC Bay Area, and Fox Bay Area.

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