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- Friday, Mar. 14, 2008
- Steve Appleton: No regrets
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Steve Appleton: No regrets
It’s Los Angeles in the early ‘60s. Steve Appleton and his two siblings were born by the time their mom was 20 years old. Sister Adrienne is 18 months older than Steve; brother Chris is 15 months younger. His young parents created a healthy home environment for their kids, but they lived in a rough neighborhood. Some of Appleton’s friends were gang members. Although he didn’t take part in their illegal activities, he thinks his friendships may have protected his home, leaving it untouched while neighbors were robbed.
Appleton’s strong work ethic started to surface early on. He had a paper route and mowed lawns when he was 6 or 7 years old. He recalls a time when he and his brother were supposed to be cutting and stacking branches in the yard. They didn’t know Mom was in the kitchen filming the whole thing. When they replayed the movie later, it showed Appleton sawing and doing the work while his brother rode his bicycle.
He looked up to his dad, who was also a hard worker. Dad introduced him to sports and taught him the importance of being exposed to new experiences throughout life. From the time he could read, his dad gave him one book after another. As a young teenager, he read two books that were especially challenging: “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin and “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Lawrence Shirer.
As he got older, Appleton became more involved in academics and sports. When he was about 12 years old, he decided he wanted to be a professional tennis player, and if he couldn’t do that, he wanted to work for a corporation. In high school, he became a musician, a student conductor of the orchestra and drum major of the marching band. He even played the trumpet and other brass instruments. While he remained friends with some of the rougher crowd, he didn’t get caught up in stakes that went “from sticks and rocks to knives and guns.” He earned tennis and academic scholarships to attend Boise State University, but some of his friends didn’t make it out of L.A. They were in prison by the time he attended his 10-year high school reunion.
College
Appleton took BSU’s tennis team by storm when he arrived in 1978. Greg Patton, then coach at the University of California, Irvine, heard about Appleton’s tennis talent during his junior year of college. Appleton’s teammates also realized that this new recruit was exceptional.
“I was No. 1 on the team my first three years, and then this freshman came along from California. I hadn’t seen a player as good as Steve at Boise State,” says Mike Megale, a former tennis teammate of Appleton’s.
Greg Wall was a senior on the tennis team when Appleton arrived. “We all wanted to be No. 1, and here comes this freshman. He beat us all,” Wall says.
Word of Appleton’s tennis prowess even reached his economics professor, Richard Payne. Payne, also a tennis player, told his students there were two ways they could earn an A in his class: Take all the exams and get A’s or beat Payne at tennis.
When Appleton heard this, he thought, “Perfect match. It can’t get any better than this.” Moments later, Payne announced one exception to his proposal: The deal didn’t apply to Steve Appleton. Appleton recalls feeling that he was lifted to great heights and crushed in a single moment. Luckily for him, he was able to earn an A in the class the old-fashioned way.
Appleton kept in touch with Payne even after they were no longer in class together. He visited Payne’s BSU office from time to time to talk about tennis, life and career opportunities. Payne remembers Appleton as a hard worker. “Everything he did, he did it with a purpose to the best of his ability,” Payne says, adding that Appleton also has a great sense of humor. After Appleton fell on his right thumb in a college match, Payne joked with him, “I think I can beat you now.” Appleton looked him in the eye and said he could still beat him with his left hand. Payne believed him.
Appleton worked hard on and off the court during college, often holding down two jobs to pay for school and living expenses. He speculates that this probably contributed to his drive to overachieve.
“I simply did not have the money for any kind of car until I was a junior in college. I mean, I rode my bike to and from everywhere. Think about asking for a date when all you have is a bicycle,” Appleton says. When he was a junior in college, he finally had enough money to buy a wrecked Toyota Corolla from his uncle for a thousand bucks.
Appleton spent his first two years at BSU trying to transfer to another college. He was having a tough time adjusting to life in a town that was so different from L.A. He also didn’t think he could optimize his tennis game at BSU. The University of San Diego tried to recruit him, but he learned he’d have to sit out for a year after the transfer. “I’m not a person to sit around,” Appleton says, adding that a new BSU tennis coach also discouraged him from transferring. So he decided to stay at BSU.
“Steve was one of those guys that wouldn’t quit. He gave 110 percent on the tennis court. He gives 110 percent at Micron,” Payne says. And Appleton probably wouldn’t have ended up at Micron if it hadn’t been for Payne.
Micron
Appleton graduated from BSU with a bachelor’s degree in business. He wanted to play tennis professionally after college. He played the Satellite Circuit and some professional tournaments, but didn’t think he was good enough to make a living at it. He returned to California to start a master’s program in computer science at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. But the timing wasn’t right, and he needed to wait a couple of months because the university was on a quarter system. He returned to Boise to visit friends while he waited. He decided he needed a job, so he visited Payne to seek advice on where he should work. Payne knew Joe Parkinson, one of Micron’s founders, so he connected the two.
At about the same time, Appleton applied for bank trainee and insurance sales positions. But in 1983, he was hired at Micron and started working the graveyard shift on the chip fabrication line. His starting wage was $4.46 per hour.
“Steve and I started at Micron in the fab together back in the early 1980s, and we’ve had the pleasure of working closely together through the years as the company has grown into a global technology leader,” says Mark Durcan, Micron president and chief operating officer.
Appleton worked his way up to vice president of operations in 1989 and president and chief operating officer in 1992. In 1994, he was the chairman, CEO, and president of the company. At age 34, he was the third youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
The road was sometimes rocky as he rose through the ranks. Micron’s board of directors fired him in 1996, but he was back in the driver’s seat eight days later. The memory chip market also created bumps along the way. Under his sometimes controversial leadership, the company’s performance has fluctuated between extreme profits and losses. Appleton says he’s now in what he refers to as his seventh cycle since he started working at Micron, so the current downturn is nothing new to him.
Other companies have tried to recruit him, and blogs sometimes flood with rumors of his resignation. So what’s kept him at Micron for 25 years? He doesn’t have to keep working. He does it because he wants to. His job offers him “an enormous amount of variety,” and he gets to represent the company worldwide.
“I’m proud of Micron. I think despite the fact that we have gone through difficult times, it’s an incredible story … an incredible story,” he says. “Micron is a legend. … People gave us up for dead in the ‘80s, and we have continued to grow and acquire and thrive and continue to be a player when, by any other measurement, most people thought we would have been buried a couple of decades ago. And we’ve overcome. We’ve overcome the odds time and time again. ... I promise you, we will reemerge, and we will lead our industry again, and we’ll be strong.”
Appleton is passionate when he talks about Micron. Without hesitation, he answers that the toughest part of his job is when the company is forced to restructure, and employees, who are like family, lose their jobs.
“It’s just not human nature to enjoy that, and if you do enjoy that, you’re probably not a very good leader. And it doesn’t change what has to be done in order to move forward and still be a competitive company and have jobs for people because the alternative is you go away to bankruptcy. And most people forget we’re it. We’re the last of the Mohicans in the United States. I mean we’re it. There is nobody else that’s survived in this business, and there used to be 20 of us that made this kind of product. And so we have to continue to restructure and mold the company to do what’s needed to survive so that we can continue on to the next stage because we will emerge stronger …”
Appleton says there is no question that restructuring is more difficult in Boise than anywhere else in the world because it’s the company’s headquarters and because it is closely scrutinized locally. He’s disappointed at times because he doesn’t feel that the “home team,” media or otherwise, roots for Micron.
“We’ve had lots and lots of criticism, and that’s fine. … I’m open to criticism, and I’ve gotta take the criticism with the praise. … I’ve been through this quite a few times. This is not devastating to me for someone to say, ‘Hey, we don’t think the CEO of Micron’s any good.’ You know, I’ve been through all of this, but for our people, it’s hard.”
President Bush toured Micron’s Virginia plant in February 2007 because despite a challenging business climate in the U.S., the company continues to have a presence in the country. Seventy percent of Micron products are sold elsewhere, and Appleton says that number continues to increase. He shares advice for future business leaders: Get exposure to international markets because 95 percent of the world’s population lives outside of the U.S. He says companies need to recognize this and try to adapt.
He also cautions leaders against taking all the credit for their success. While they do need to be hard working and knowledgeable, Appleton says there’s also a lot of luck involved. And he believes in starting with a level of respect for everyone.
“I would hope that people who interact with me and know me know I’m not a legend in my own mind. … I don’t run around thinking that I’m better than anybody else. Maybe it’s because of how I grew up and didn’t have anything.”
Despite some of the challenges he’s faced at Micron, Appleton’s glad he stayed in Boise. Not only has he had a successful career (11 promotions in nine years), he thinks Boise is a great place to live. He’s spent his adult life being part of the community and watching it evolve. “It’s frustrating when people who’ve only been here a couple of years try to tell those of us who’ve been part of the community for 30 years — driving hard, contributing, doing things in the community — what we ought to do or shouldn’t do,” Appleton says.
Philanthropy
Appleton’s friends describe him as a generous man with a big heart. In 2005, he was awarded the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Achievement Award. The award, presented by Montblanc, was created in 1994 to pay tribute to past participants in the world of collegiate tennis who have achieved excellence in their chosen careers, according to the association. The distinguished person is honored for his or her professional successes and contributions to society.
Appleton has contributed to various causes in the local community. BSU’s current president, Dr. Robert Kustra, says Appleton continues to be a loyal supporter of education individually and through the Micron Foundation. Kustra met Appleton in 2003 and interacts with him in his role as co-chair of the university’s campaign steering committee.
Kustra said Appleton’s only requirement for agreeing to serve on the committee was that he not be in the limelight. “He’s not looking for press. He’s not looking for applause. To Steve, it’s just simply about getting the job done,” Kustra says. He describes Appleton as an incredible intellect and an unassuming CEO who “doesn’t expect to be treated differently than anyone else.”
Appleton and Micron have made substantial donations to the university, including $12.5 million for the College of Business and Economics. The university also has received financial support for its engineering program. “The success we enjoy in that program stems largely from Micron and Steve Appleton’s leadership. He has had an enormous impact on the university, both personally and professionally,” Kustra says.
Another of Appleton’s contributions turned an old tennis facility into a palace, according to Boise State’s coach Patton. BSU and its athletic department raised some of the money to rebuild, and Appleton was part of the fundraising effort. Patton says Appleton gave more than $3 million to build the Appleton Tennis Center, which opened in 2002 in the heart of the campus.
Appleton has mentored BSU tennis teams in the past. He’s even played a match or two with them. Patton recalls a time when Appleton came out to play “in old retro sweats.” Patton says he wasn’t trying to con the players, but some thought he was like some guy out of Saturday Night Live, and they weren’t taking him seriously. It didn’t take long for Appleton to show his competitive side. “He was playing with these elite college players and winning points,” Patton says. “He is like a hungry coyote on the prairie.”
Beyond the board room
There’s no doubt Appleton has an appetite for intense activities: flying stunt planes, racing cars, motocross, skydiving, water skiing, wakeboarding, parasailing and more. His friends say he masters any activity he pursues. “He was the most focused person I’ve ever met in my life,” Jackson says. “I can beat him at golf and racquetball, but nothing else.” Former teammate and college roommate Mark Jackson says Appleton excels in sports ranging from weight lifting to ping pong. He admits that if Appleton puts his mind to it, he can probably conquer him in golf and racquetball too. “The thing that’s so uncanny about Steve is that he’s so good at so many things,” Patton says.
For the past 14 years, Appleton and the rest of his college tennis teammates have continued to hold regular reunions in places such as McCall, Coeur d’Alene, Hawaii and Montana. Some trips are more adventurous than others. Megale recalls the 1997 trip to Hawaii. Appleton planned the group’s itinerary to the minute. One day, he announced that they were all going on a field trip. He kept their destination a surprise but told the guys to wear hiking shoes and swimming trunks. They hiked up a dry creek bed for about an hour, climbing higher into the mountains. Finally, they reached a dark cave with an opening the size of two large double doors in the side of the mountain. It was full of water, and the only light came from Appleton’s head lamp. Although they didn’t know what lurked below the surface, the guys got in and started swimming. Megale says that it was unbelievably scary, but they just kept following the beam of light from Appleton’s lamp. Finally, they made it out of the cave and Appleton announced, “We’re here!” About 20 yards further, a massive waterfall crashed into an abyss … and the guys were supposed to jump into it. Appleton jumped first and coaxed everyone else down. “Talk about a bonding experience,” Megale says. Wall and Megale agree that they always feel safe with Appleton. “The thing is, all of us trust him to the point that we would do this,” Megale says.
Some of Appleton’s activities are daring, to say the least. He says he’s probably taken his biggest physical risks in aviation and flying aerobatics. He started piloting planes in the mid-’80s because skydiving bored him. He decided he’d rather fly the planes than jump out of them. “A lot of people think flying aerobatics is about thrill seeking, and it never was for me,” he says. He admits that flying an inverted plane 500 mph, 50 feet off the ground is pretty exciting. But it’s also important that the maneuvers foster precision and develop a pilot’s skills.
In July 2004, he was performing stunt maneuvers in his plane when it crashed. He suffered serious injuries but still spent less than a day in the hospital and was soon back to work. Despite an event that could have had a fatal ending, Appleton says he wasn’t afraid of flying after the crash because he knew exactly what caused it.
Appleton even manages to maintain a sense of humor when it comes to flying. When he and Brian Halla, CEO of National Semiconductor, met in 1996, Appleton told him about a time when he was testing out a new airplane he had just purchased. He was flying upside down when the engine froze. Wide-eyed, Halla asked Appleton what he did next. Appleton replied, “I took it back to the dealer.”
One summer, he flew in a California air show near Halla’s home. With a pair of binoculars, Halla watched a bright red plane fly upside down and perform loops and rolls. Halla thought it might be Appleton, so he asked him about it the next time they spoke. Appleton confirmed that he had been flying in the show and told Halla he should have given him a call that day because he had his phone in the cockpit.
Appleton joined National Semiconductor’s board of directors in 2001. Halla says that even though Appleton is the youngest member of the board, he’s probably the most influential. “He’s always a ‘peer plus one.’ He takes control, not in a dominating way, but adds value,” Halla says, adding that he’s very committed to every task he undertakes. Appleton never missed a meeting when he chaired the Semiconductor Industry Association. And Halla recalls that on more than one occasion, Appleton has held the board of directors spellbound with stories of weekend adventures.
But Appleton has a slightly different viewpoint when it comes to risk. His philosophy is that although young people tend to take more risks, people can actually afford to take more chances the older they get because they no longer have their entire lives ahead of them. In 2006, he and other executives demonstrated their willingness to throw caution to the wind by entering an off-road car race in Baja, Calif. Appleton actually won the race in his category, ahead of 20 other cars.
Four Micron cars raced, recording video on equipment featuring the company’s NAND flash memory and image sensors. This allowed Micron to capture images of the entire race for the first time — a clever way to market the company, the product and the CEO.
But Appleton’s focus isn’t limited to sports and death-defying hobbies. Although he’s never been much of a fiction reader, he and Jackson tell the story of a time during college when he holed up and read every book written by American frontier author Louis L’Amour.
Jackson visited Appleton after college. He describes an apartment that was cluttered with evidence of Appleton’s latest interests: Bicycles, tennis rackets, running accessories … even gun reloading equipment. Jackson says at one point, Appleton got into woodworking. He bought tools and built fancy shelves, then gave the tools away when he was ready to take on a new challenge.
The future
So what’s next for Appleton? He still has hopes and dreams for his family and for himself. Like most parents, he wants to see his children graduate from college and be contributing members of society. “You know, parents can’t take responsibility for everything their kids turn out to be, and I’m fortunate that so far, everybody’s on track and pretty good,” he says.
Taking his dad’s advice to heart, he continues to pursue new experiences. He still wants to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Although he climbed Mount Fuji in the early ‘90s, he hopes to someday climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Not surprisingly, a man who embraces risk and adventure isn’t plagued with regrets.
“I don’t have any regrets. I have lived a great, great life, and I have experienced so much more than one person should be allowed.”
Brenda Ceja is the business reporter for the Idaho Press-Tribune. She can be reached at bceja@idahopress.com or 465-8120. On the Web: www. micron.com
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Steve Appleton gives a thumbs up from the cockpit of an airplane. He is a pilot and has flown in air shows across the U.S. |
It’s Los Angeles in the early ‘60s. Steve Appleton and his two siblings were born by the time their mom was 20 years old. Sister Adrienne is 18 months older than Steve; brother Chris is 15 months younger. His young parents created a healthy home environment for their kids, but they lived in a rough neighborhood. Some of Appleton’s friends were gang members. Although he didn’t take part in their illegal activities, he thinks his friendships may have protected his home, leaving it untouched while neighbors were robbed.
Appleton’s strong work ethic started to surface early on. He had a paper route and mowed lawns when he was 6 or 7 years old. He recalls a time when he and his brother were supposed to be cutting and stacking branches in the yard. They didn’t know Mom was in the kitchen filming the whole thing. When they replayed the movie later, it showed Appleton sawing and doing the work while his brother rode his bicycle.
He looked up to his dad, who was also a hard worker. Dad introduced him to sports and taught him the importance of being exposed to new experiences throughout life. From the time he could read, his dad gave him one book after another. As a young teenager, he read two books that were especially challenging: “The Origin of Species” by Charles Darwin and “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” by William Lawrence Shirer.
As he got older, Appleton became more involved in academics and sports. When he was about 12 years old, he decided he wanted to be a professional tennis player, and if he couldn’t do that, he wanted to work for a corporation. In high school, he became a musician, a student conductor of the orchestra and drum major of the marching band. He even played the trumpet and other brass instruments. While he remained friends with some of the rougher crowd, he didn’t get caught up in stakes that went “from sticks and rocks to knives and guns.” He earned tennis and academic scholarships to attend Boise State University, but some of his friends didn’t make it out of L.A. They were in prison by the time he attended his 10-year high school reunion.
College
Appleton took BSU’s tennis team by storm when he arrived in 1978. Greg Patton, then coach at the University of California, Irvine, heard about Appleton’s tennis talent during his junior year of college. Appleton’s teammates also realized that this new recruit was exceptional.
“I was No. 1 on the team my first three years, and then this freshman came along from California. I hadn’t seen a player as good as Steve at Boise State,” says Mike Megale, a former tennis teammate of Appleton’s.
Greg Wall was a senior on the tennis team when Appleton arrived. “We all wanted to be No. 1, and here comes this freshman. He beat us all,” Wall says.
Word of Appleton’s tennis prowess even reached his economics professor, Richard Payne. Payne, also a tennis player, told his students there were two ways they could earn an A in his class: Take all the exams and get A’s or beat Payne at tennis.
When Appleton heard this, he thought, “Perfect match. It can’t get any better than this.” Moments later, Payne announced one exception to his proposal: The deal didn’t apply to Steve Appleton. Appleton recalls feeling that he was lifted to great heights and crushed in a single moment. Luckily for him, he was able to earn an A in the class the old-fashioned way.
Appleton kept in touch with Payne even after they were no longer in class together. He visited Payne’s BSU office from time to time to talk about tennis, life and career opportunities. Payne remembers Appleton as a hard worker. “Everything he did, he did it with a purpose to the best of his ability,” Payne says, adding that Appleton also has a great sense of humor. After Appleton fell on his right thumb in a college match, Payne joked with him, “I think I can beat you now.” Appleton looked him in the eye and said he could still beat him with his left hand. Payne believed him.
Appleton worked hard on and off the court during college, often holding down two jobs to pay for school and living expenses. He speculates that this probably contributed to his drive to overachieve.
“I simply did not have the money for any kind of car until I was a junior in college. I mean, I rode my bike to and from everywhere. Think about asking for a date when all you have is a bicycle,” Appleton says. When he was a junior in college, he finally had enough money to buy a wrecked Toyota Corolla from his uncle for a thousand bucks.
Appleton spent his first two years at BSU trying to transfer to another college. He was having a tough time adjusting to life in a town that was so different from L.A. He also didn’t think he could optimize his tennis game at BSU. The University of San Diego tried to recruit him, but he learned he’d have to sit out for a year after the transfer. “I’m not a person to sit around,” Appleton says, adding that a new BSU tennis coach also discouraged him from transferring. So he decided to stay at BSU.
“Steve was one of those guys that wouldn’t quit. He gave 110 percent on the tennis court. He gives 110 percent at Micron,” Payne says. And Appleton probably wouldn’t have ended up at Micron if it hadn’t been for Payne.
Micron
Appleton graduated from BSU with a bachelor’s degree in business. He wanted to play tennis professionally after college. He played the Satellite Circuit and some professional tournaments, but didn’t think he was good enough to make a living at it. He returned to California to start a master’s program in computer science at California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. But the timing wasn’t right, and he needed to wait a couple of months because the university was on a quarter system. He returned to Boise to visit friends while he waited. He decided he needed a job, so he visited Payne to seek advice on where he should work. Payne knew Joe Parkinson, one of Micron’s founders, so he connected the two.
At about the same time, Appleton applied for bank trainee and insurance sales positions. But in 1983, he was hired at Micron and started working the graveyard shift on the chip fabrication line. His starting wage was $4.46 per hour.
“Steve and I started at Micron in the fab together back in the early 1980s, and we’ve had the pleasure of working closely together through the years as the company has grown into a global technology leader,” says Mark Durcan, Micron president and chief operating officer.
Appleton worked his way up to vice president of operations in 1989 and president and chief operating officer in 1992. In 1994, he was the chairman, CEO, and president of the company. At age 34, he was the third youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
The road was sometimes rocky as he rose through the ranks. Micron’s board of directors fired him in 1996, but he was back in the driver’s seat eight days later. The memory chip market also created bumps along the way. Under his sometimes controversial leadership, the company’s performance has fluctuated between extreme profits and losses. Appleton says he’s now in what he refers to as his seventh cycle since he started working at Micron, so the current downturn is nothing new to him.
Other companies have tried to recruit him, and blogs sometimes flood with rumors of his resignation. So what’s kept him at Micron for 25 years? He doesn’t have to keep working. He does it because he wants to. His job offers him “an enormous amount of variety,” and he gets to represent the company worldwide.
“I’m proud of Micron. I think despite the fact that we have gone through difficult times, it’s an incredible story … an incredible story,” he says. “Micron is a legend. … People gave us up for dead in the ‘80s, and we have continued to grow and acquire and thrive and continue to be a player when, by any other measurement, most people thought we would have been buried a couple of decades ago. And we’ve overcome. We’ve overcome the odds time and time again. ... I promise you, we will reemerge, and we will lead our industry again, and we’ll be strong.”
Appleton is passionate when he talks about Micron. Without hesitation, he answers that the toughest part of his job is when the company is forced to restructure, and employees, who are like family, lose their jobs.
“It’s just not human nature to enjoy that, and if you do enjoy that, you’re probably not a very good leader. And it doesn’t change what has to be done in order to move forward and still be a competitive company and have jobs for people because the alternative is you go away to bankruptcy. And most people forget we’re it. We’re the last of the Mohicans in the United States. I mean we’re it. There is nobody else that’s survived in this business, and there used to be 20 of us that made this kind of product. And so we have to continue to restructure and mold the company to do what’s needed to survive so that we can continue on to the next stage because we will emerge stronger …”
Appleton says there is no question that restructuring is more difficult in Boise than anywhere else in the world because it’s the company’s headquarters and because it is closely scrutinized locally. He’s disappointed at times because he doesn’t feel that the “home team,” media or otherwise, roots for Micron.
“We’ve had lots and lots of criticism, and that’s fine. … I’m open to criticism, and I’ve gotta take the criticism with the praise. … I’ve been through this quite a few times. This is not devastating to me for someone to say, ‘Hey, we don’t think the CEO of Micron’s any good.’ You know, I’ve been through all of this, but for our people, it’s hard.”
President Bush toured Micron’s Virginia plant in February 2007 because despite a challenging business climate in the U.S., the company continues to have a presence in the country. Seventy percent of Micron products are sold elsewhere, and Appleton says that number continues to increase. He shares advice for future business leaders: Get exposure to international markets because 95 percent of the world’s population lives outside of the U.S. He says companies need to recognize this and try to adapt.
He also cautions leaders against taking all the credit for their success. While they do need to be hard working and knowledgeable, Appleton says there’s also a lot of luck involved. And he believes in starting with a level of respect for everyone.
“I would hope that people who interact with me and know me know I’m not a legend in my own mind. … I don’t run around thinking that I’m better than anybody else. Maybe it’s because of how I grew up and didn’t have anything.”
Despite some of the challenges he’s faced at Micron, Appleton’s glad he stayed in Boise. Not only has he had a successful career (11 promotions in nine years), he thinks Boise is a great place to live. He’s spent his adult life being part of the community and watching it evolve. “It’s frustrating when people who’ve only been here a couple of years try to tell those of us who’ve been part of the community for 30 years — driving hard, contributing, doing things in the community — what we ought to do or shouldn’t do,” Appleton says.
Philanthropy
Appleton’s friends describe him as a generous man with a big heart. In 2005, he was awarded the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Achievement Award. The award, presented by Montblanc, was created in 1994 to pay tribute to past participants in the world of collegiate tennis who have achieved excellence in their chosen careers, according to the association. The distinguished person is honored for his or her professional successes and contributions to society.
Appleton has contributed to various causes in the local community. BSU’s current president, Dr. Robert Kustra, says Appleton continues to be a loyal supporter of education individually and through the Micron Foundation. Kustra met Appleton in 2003 and interacts with him in his role as co-chair of the university’s campaign steering committee.
Kustra said Appleton’s only requirement for agreeing to serve on the committee was that he not be in the limelight. “He’s not looking for press. He’s not looking for applause. To Steve, it’s just simply about getting the job done,” Kustra says. He describes Appleton as an incredible intellect and an unassuming CEO who “doesn’t expect to be treated differently than anyone else.”
Appleton and Micron have made substantial donations to the university, including $12.5 million for the College of Business and Economics. The university also has received financial support for its engineering program. “The success we enjoy in that program stems largely from Micron and Steve Appleton’s leadership. He has had an enormous impact on the university, both personally and professionally,” Kustra says.
Another of Appleton’s contributions turned an old tennis facility into a palace, according to Boise State’s coach Patton. BSU and its athletic department raised some of the money to rebuild, and Appleton was part of the fundraising effort. Patton says Appleton gave more than $3 million to build the Appleton Tennis Center, which opened in 2002 in the heart of the campus.
Appleton has mentored BSU tennis teams in the past. He’s even played a match or two with them. Patton recalls a time when Appleton came out to play “in old retro sweats.” Patton says he wasn’t trying to con the players, but some thought he was like some guy out of Saturday Night Live, and they weren’t taking him seriously. It didn’t take long for Appleton to show his competitive side. “He was playing with these elite college players and winning points,” Patton says. “He is like a hungry coyote on the prairie.”
Beyond the board room
There’s no doubt Appleton has an appetite for intense activities: flying stunt planes, racing cars, motocross, skydiving, water skiing, wakeboarding, parasailing and more. His friends say he masters any activity he pursues. “He was the most focused person I’ve ever met in my life,” Jackson says. “I can beat him at golf and racquetball, but nothing else.” Former teammate and college roommate Mark Jackson says Appleton excels in sports ranging from weight lifting to ping pong. He admits that if Appleton puts his mind to it, he can probably conquer him in golf and racquetball too. “The thing that’s so uncanny about Steve is that he’s so good at so many things,” Patton says.
For the past 14 years, Appleton and the rest of his college tennis teammates have continued to hold regular reunions in places such as McCall, Coeur d’Alene, Hawaii and Montana. Some trips are more adventurous than others. Megale recalls the 1997 trip to Hawaii. Appleton planned the group’s itinerary to the minute. One day, he announced that they were all going on a field trip. He kept their destination a surprise but told the guys to wear hiking shoes and swimming trunks. They hiked up a dry creek bed for about an hour, climbing higher into the mountains. Finally, they reached a dark cave with an opening the size of two large double doors in the side of the mountain. It was full of water, and the only light came from Appleton’s head lamp. Although they didn’t know what lurked below the surface, the guys got in and started swimming. Megale says that it was unbelievably scary, but they just kept following the beam of light from Appleton’s lamp. Finally, they made it out of the cave and Appleton announced, “We’re here!” About 20 yards further, a massive waterfall crashed into an abyss … and the guys were supposed to jump into it. Appleton jumped first and coaxed everyone else down. “Talk about a bonding experience,” Megale says. Wall and Megale agree that they always feel safe with Appleton. “The thing is, all of us trust him to the point that we would do this,” Megale says.
Some of Appleton’s activities are daring, to say the least. He says he’s probably taken his biggest physical risks in aviation and flying aerobatics. He started piloting planes in the mid-’80s because skydiving bored him. He decided he’d rather fly the planes than jump out of them. “A lot of people think flying aerobatics is about thrill seeking, and it never was for me,” he says. He admits that flying an inverted plane 500 mph, 50 feet off the ground is pretty exciting. But it’s also important that the maneuvers foster precision and develop a pilot’s skills.
In July 2004, he was performing stunt maneuvers in his plane when it crashed. He suffered serious injuries but still spent less than a day in the hospital and was soon back to work. Despite an event that could have had a fatal ending, Appleton says he wasn’t afraid of flying after the crash because he knew exactly what caused it.
Appleton even manages to maintain a sense of humor when it comes to flying. When he and Brian Halla, CEO of National Semiconductor, met in 1996, Appleton told him about a time when he was testing out a new airplane he had just purchased. He was flying upside down when the engine froze. Wide-eyed, Halla asked Appleton what he did next. Appleton replied, “I took it back to the dealer.”
One summer, he flew in a California air show near Halla’s home. With a pair of binoculars, Halla watched a bright red plane fly upside down and perform loops and rolls. Halla thought it might be Appleton, so he asked him about it the next time they spoke. Appleton confirmed that he had been flying in the show and told Halla he should have given him a call that day because he had his phone in the cockpit.
Appleton joined National Semiconductor’s board of directors in 2001. Halla says that even though Appleton is the youngest member of the board, he’s probably the most influential. “He’s always a ‘peer plus one.’ He takes control, not in a dominating way, but adds value,” Halla says, adding that he’s very committed to every task he undertakes. Appleton never missed a meeting when he chaired the Semiconductor Industry Association. And Halla recalls that on more than one occasion, Appleton has held the board of directors spellbound with stories of weekend adventures.
But Appleton has a slightly different viewpoint when it comes to risk. His philosophy is that although young people tend to take more risks, people can actually afford to take more chances the older they get because they no longer have their entire lives ahead of them. In 2006, he and other executives demonstrated their willingness to throw caution to the wind by entering an off-road car race in Baja, Calif. Appleton actually won the race in his category, ahead of 20 other cars.
Four Micron cars raced, recording video on equipment featuring the company’s NAND flash memory and image sensors. This allowed Micron to capture images of the entire race for the first time — a clever way to market the company, the product and the CEO.
But Appleton’s focus isn’t limited to sports and death-defying hobbies. Although he’s never been much of a fiction reader, he and Jackson tell the story of a time during college when he holed up and read every book written by American frontier author Louis L’Amour.
Jackson visited Appleton after college. He describes an apartment that was cluttered with evidence of Appleton’s latest interests: Bicycles, tennis rackets, running accessories … even gun reloading equipment. Jackson says at one point, Appleton got into woodworking. He bought tools and built fancy shelves, then gave the tools away when he was ready to take on a new challenge.
The future
So what’s next for Appleton? He still has hopes and dreams for his family and for himself. Like most parents, he wants to see his children graduate from college and be contributing members of society. “You know, parents can’t take responsibility for everything their kids turn out to be, and I’m fortunate that so far, everybody’s on track and pretty good,” he says.
Taking his dad’s advice to heart, he continues to pursue new experiences. He still wants to see the Seven Wonders of the World. Although he climbed Mount Fuji in the early ‘90s, he hopes to someday climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Not surprisingly, a man who embraces risk and adventure isn’t plagued with regrets.
“I don’t have any regrets. I have lived a great, great life, and I have experienced so much more than one person should be allowed.”
Brenda Ceja is the business reporter for the Idaho Press-Tribune. She can be reached at bceja@idahopress.com or 465-8120. On the Web: www. micron.com