Micron CEO Is Reappointed Days After Resigning
In an unusual reversal that suggests continued company turmoil, Micron Technology Inc. said Friday that Steve Appleton has been reappointed as chief executive and president only a few days after announcing his resignation.
The board of directors of the leading computer memory chip maker voted to reappoint Appleton late Friday after an all-day meeting with top management, who had lobbied for his return, company spokesman Kipp Bedard said.
“The management team certainly wanted him back, and the board of directors realized that,” Bedard said.
Appleton’s resignation and reappointment come in the wake of an aggressive but ill-timed expansion campaign by the company in the face of a decline in memory chip prices.
Micron stock closed Friday at $34.50, down $1.50 on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock had reached as high as $94.75 as recently as last fall. News of the reappointment came after the market closed.
Appleton, 35, a Los Angeles native who started at Micron as a $5-an-hour production worker, had been chief executive for only 1 1/2 years when the Boise, Idaho-based company said last week that he was resigning for “personal reasons.”
That was the same explanation given when Micron co-founder and then-CEO Joe Parkinson and two other key executives resigned in September 1992, after a dispute with Micron’s largest shareholder, J.R. Simplot, a billionaire who made his fortune selling French fries to McDonald’s.
“The overwhelming support from the management team and the board of directors has caused me to reconsider my resignation,” Appleton said in a statement released Friday evening. “I am very proud to be part of a team so dedicated to the continuing success of Micron.”
Appleton will address shareholders on Monday at the company’s annual meeting in Boise.
In a statement, Simplot said: “Steve Appleton has the unanimous support of the board of directors. We are confident that all of us together will provide the leadership needed to continue building the company.’
Micron chief technical executive Tyle Lowrey, who was to succeed Appleton, will resume his role as vice chairman and assume the role of chief operations officer.
Ed Heitzeberg resigned from the Micron’s board of directors to oversee the company’s design, product engineering and quality assurance operations.
Micron’s efforts to be the low-cost producer in the volatile memory chip business have been thwarted by South Korean producers, who have a significant cost advantage, industry analysts said.
Appleton was also criticized for moving ahead with a new $1.3-billion chip plant in Utah as prices showed signs of weakening. However, Simplot had backed both the company’s expansion plans and the building of the Utah factory.
