Wily, J.R. Simplot is the man who controls Micron Technology, Chairman of the Board and largest shareholder and general, all-around, dictator. He is the guy who fired Appleton and hired him back as CEO. Despite this flub-a-dub of a money burner, he is well-respected in the food industry, with potatoes and frozen cheeseburgers providing the cash to waste on DRAM.
There isn't much more to say about the Mormon connection to MU. It is no secret that most of the top people are LDS members and it is no accident that, before reality caught up to the fantasy, they planned to expand in Utah, Lehi, Utah, to be exact. Intel also has serveral execs who are LDS members.
This is not some Trilateral Commmission conspiracy or a "Jewish bankers" scare of the Nazis. It is simply a case of wealthy, powerful members of a demonination helping one another and diadvantaging others who are either of a different religion, or in the case of the Asian bashing, a different race. The same way devout Catholics will try to steer any football playing phenom they find to Notre Dame, Mormons want to support the companies their members control. And there is a lot of cooperation between companies where there is an LDS tie. Also, there is a voting bloc in Congress, which I call the Mormon Mafia, who throw business at companies in their districts and of their religion. Thus, the government contracts MUEI has enjoyed over the years that have keet the wolf from the door. So far.
The specific references are to a speech Simplot made on a conference call where he talked about visiting the Elders and how they supported the good work MU was doing to make America first in the commodity chip arena. Other than that, there has always been a kissy-face relationship between Intel and MU that has helped MU stave off bankruptcy through three downcycles. Some wonder how it came about that Intel demanded EDO only DRAM in 1996 and, surprise, MU had the greatest production percentage of Edo of any mfr. As Jimmy Durante would say, what a coinkadink. -g-
But there are limits to how foolish a business will be to help a co-religionist. For example, four months after stating that the world had to move to Burst EDO, where MU and Hyundai were the only producers, Andy Grove changed his tune and admitted that Burst Edo was dead, leaving MU to hold the bag. He may want to help them, but he cannot make his own products obsolete by doing so.
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