Wild rides defined a wild Micron leader

BOISE - The image Steve Appleton cultivated as a stunt pilot and off-road rally driver became the perfect metaphor for his wild, 18-year ride as the leader of Micron Technology Inc., where stomach-churning swings from billion-dollar profit to billion-dollar loss required the constitution of a business daredevil to survive.

Appleton, Micron's chief executive officer, died Friday morning when his experimental plane crashed at the Boise Airport, west of Micron's desert campus. He'd previously crashed a plane in 2004, suffering serious injuries.

Betsy Van Hees, an analyst from San Francisco's Wedbush Securities, always figured Appleton was the ideal persona to lead an upstart from the wilds of Idaho in the turbulent global memory industry. People must be thrill-seekers to be in the computer memory business, especially in recent years, Van Hees said.

"You look at what's happened in the industry over the years, its many ups and downs - more downs than ups lately - and Steve had stayed committed to that, and to staying in Boise," she said. "It's not a business for the faint of heart."

Appleton guided Micron through three years of losses totaling over $1 billion before the company returned to profitability again in 2010, surviving a supply glut that drove rivals like Germany's Quimonda AG out of business in 2009.

Though the upswing was short-lived - Micron lost more than $300 million in the six months through November 2011 - Appleton left it with nearly $2 billion in cash ahead of another potentially imminent round of consolidation.

Micron President Mark Durcan, who started in 1984, was set to retire in August; Van Hees expected he may stay longer now.

"I really don't see the culture of the company changing that drastically with Steve's tragic death," she said.

Micron spokesman Dan Francisco said early Saturday Durcan would assume Appleton's role until a successor is named by the board.

Appleton worked at Micron since 1983, moving from a $4.46 per hour job on the factory floor to the company's front offices in 11 years.

He helped oversee the boom years, when the company expanded its Idaho workforce to around 12,000 employees by 2006 - as well as the subsequent consolidation as Micron shuttered manufacturing in its home state, keeping just 5,000 corporate and research and development jobs in southwestern Idaho by 2011.

Worldwide, there are now some 20,000 workers, in Virginia and Utah as well as Italy, Israel, Singapore, China and Malaysia.

Despite its diminished local presence, Micron remains a symbol of Idaho's transformation from a state that relied on its natural resources like timber and mining to a technology producer that could go toe-to-toe with the likes of South Korea, home of Samsung, Micron's biggest rival. Appleton played a big part in that, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter said.

"He taught us that the very best in the world can go on in Boise," Bieter said. "He took this company and put it among the best, not just when times were good. It feels like a loss of a member of our family."

In the hours after his death, Idaho officials including Gov. Butch Otter also expressed sadness in messages that reflected Appleton's zest for life.

"Steve was someone who understood the value as well as the cost of excellence," Otter said in a statement. "He lived life to the fullest, and while he enjoyed great success in business and in life, he never lost his intensity or his drive."

An avid snowboarder, Appleton gave lessons to former Intel Chairman Craig Barrett, whose company partnered with Micron in 2005. He rode his motorcycle at a Boise-area motocross course and once told reporters he began flying high-performance aircraft after growing bored with sky diving.

He owned 20 airplanes, including British Hawker Hunter military jets, and was flying an experimental Lancair Friday when it crashed near the runway - a spot just miles from where he crashed another of his planes, an Extra 300L, in 2004.

He walked away hurt from that, but Friday's impact wasn't survivable. Federal crash investigators found his wallet.

"We have lost a great business leader and a great man," former Gov. Dirk Kempthorne said.

When possible, Appleton combined his love of danger with hawking his company's wares.

In 2006, for instance, he won his vehicle class in a 1,000-mile off-road race down Mexico's Baja Peninsula - in a car equipped with Micron image sensors to capture the trip on flash memory cards.

Appleton was one of a kind, said Jason Kreizenbeck, the former Micron lobbyist who went on to become Gov. Otter's chief of staff in 2007.

"He was a great community leader, a great businessman, a great family man - in no particular order," said Kreizenbeck, a Micron employee for eight years. "I feel lucky having worked for him."

Durcan named CEO at Micron

BOISE (AP) - The board of directors for Micron Technology Inc. has named Mark Durcan the company's chief executive officer, a day after longtime CEO and Chairman Steve Appleton died in a plane crash.

The board on Friday appointed Durcan the interim CEO hours after Appleton's experimental plane crashed moments after takeoff at the Boise Airport. He was the only person on board.

The board's action Saturday removes the interim title, and also makes Durcan the director of Micron's board of directors.

The 51-year-old Durcan had been the company's president and chief operating officer, and just last week announced his intention to step down in August.