Micron Technology

The largest U.S. maker of memory chips, Micron manufactures and sells various types of DRAM and NAND memory used in everything from PCs and smartphones to automobiles and data centers. Founded in the basement of a Boise dental office in 1978, the company has grown into a leader in both semiconductor R&D and manufacturing, with more than 15,000 active U.S. patents and 7,500 active foreign patents to its name and a string of chip manufacturing facilities throughout the U.S. and Asia. The company announced plans in 2022 to construct a “megafab” in upstate New York, promising to spend $100 billion on the project over a period of 20 years.