Sadly, weve just heard that Microns CEO and chairman Steve Appleton has died at 51 years of age on Friday morning as the result of a small plane crash at Boise, Idaho. its been reported that Appleton was flying alone in his Lancair fixed-wing single-engine stunt plane when something caused the plane to malfunction and plummet to the ground.
Appleton had already aborted a previous flight that morning soon after takeoff when realising something was wrong with the plane. Yet only 8 minutes after returning from that flight and into the hanger, he was heading back into the sky once again, of which a very short time later the ill-fated event unfolded.
Appleton narrowly escaped his peril back in 2004 when he crashed an aerobatic aircraft over an Idaho desert. He was renowned for his love of planes and athletic interests in general. It all started with Steve when he held a tennis scholarship at Boise State University before graduating and joining Micron in 1983. He was appointed president and chief operating officer for the company in 1991 and was listed as the third youngest CEO in the Fortune 500 list after taking over the reins from retiring Micron founder, Joe Parkinson at the age of 34.
Despite some challenging times for the company through recent economic turmoil, Appletons leadership allowed Micron to maintain its position in sales figures as one of the top 20 global semiconductor manufacturers.
Micron said in a proceeding statement, Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steves passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community, and the technology industry at large".
Micron has not yet formally named a long term successor to Appleton. As it stands now, the company president and Chief Operating Officer, Mark Durcan takes over as interim chief executive officer.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Steves family.
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