Steve Appleton - the chief executive of Micron Technology, which makes products under the Lexar and Crucial brands - has died in the crash of an experimental plane he was piloting.
The image that Appleton, 51, cultivated as a stunt pilot and off-road rally driver became the perfect metaphor for his wild, 18-year ride as the leader of the company, where stomach-churning swings from billion-dollar profit to billion-dollar loss required the constitution of a business daredevil to survive.
Appleton died on Friday morning when his plane crashed at the Boise Airport, west of Micron's desert campus. The company one of the largest and most influential employers in the state of Idaho.
Micron makes semiconductor chips for computers, mobile devices, cameras and other devices. In its latest fiscal year, which ended on 1 September, Micron earned $167m (£106m) and had revenue of $8.8bn.
Appleton was no stranger to plane crashes, surviving at least two earlier wrecks including one in 2004 that left him seriously injured. He was the only person aboard on Friday when the small Lancair crashed shortly after its second takeoff attempt in Boise, according to safety investigators.
Appleton was known as a driven competitor in a volatile industry. Away from the... Source/Origin >> Read More
