Looking around for news on MUEI, I came across an old article on MU that is kind of interesting in light of where they are at 2 1/2 years later:
LOTS OF HAPPY TALK AT MICRON ... 01/30/96
Publication: The Salt Lake Tribune
Published: 01/30/96
ÿÿ Jack Simplot encourages the Micron Technology Inc. shareholders Monday.
Lots of Happy Talk at Micron Meeting, But No Answers About Recent Shake-Up
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Byline: By John Keahey THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE
ÿÿ BOISE -- Working the crowd like a seasoned politician, 87-year-old Idaho French-fry baron Jack Simplot grabbed arms and slapped the backs of hundreds of Technology Inc. shareholders Monday, repeatedly bellowing the cry, ''Hang on. This company's going places.''
ÿÿ The damage-control efforts by Micron's largest single shareholder -- he controls 22 percent -- came during the company's annual meeting, after nearly two weeks of corporate angst and confrontation.
ÿÿ Amid glowing reports of new products waiting in the wings for the right market conditions, however, questions about the stunning Jan. 18 departure -- and return nine days later -- of Chairman Steve Appleton went unanswered.
ÿÿ ''We've proved we ended our dispute and we're on the way,'' Simplot said at the meeting. ''I'm just a farmer, a potato farmer. If you want to sue someone, sue me.''
ÿÿ Appleton had quit in an apparent dispute with individual board members -- including Simplot and longtime Simplot crony Allen T. Noble, Micron's second largest shareholder.
ÿÿ Appleton said Monday that his resignation and return had nothing to do with money, and he refused to answer whether it was a tactic to solidify his prestige and authority over Simplot and Noble.
ÿÿ The dispute appears to have been centered on the pace and financing of Micron's ambitious expansion plans, including the $2.5 billion manufacturing complex in Lehi, Utah.
ÿÿ In a stunning reversal Friday, the board voted unanimously to rehire Appleton and give him full authority to do what it takes to keep the company -- and the Lehi project -- on track.
ÿÿ Noble and other board members were mum Monday, declining to address the nearly 1,000 shareholders jammed into a downtown Boise convention center.
ÿÿ All board members were re-elected to new terms.
ÿÿ When the two-hour meeting broke up, the directors quickly left the room, leaving Appleton to address reporters.
ÿÿ Two themes emerged concerning the computer-chip maker's expansion into Lehi and at its Boise manufacturing facility: Micron is holding open the option of borrowing money to complete expansion, and it may increase the number of shares available -- from 300,000 to 1 million.
ÿÿ Executives repeated their promise that while the Lehi project was slowing down, they expect to start making chips there by early next year.
ÿÿ Appleton said that promise depends on market demand at the time, which is expected to soften during the next several months. He also said the plant probably would be brought on-line slowly, in increments.
ÿÿ The company, after six months of fast-track construction at the site, recently cut overtime and reduced two-a-day shifts from 10 hours to eight.
ÿÿ Then, the company fired the five Utah general contractors at the site, putting subsidiary Micron Construction into the role. At its peak, the site employed 4,600 construction workers; only 1,500 are expected to remain March 1.
ÿÿ It was the recent board-room fracas that attracted most of Monday's crowd, which included tight-lipped Wall Street analysts and bankers. Last year, only 200 attended the meeting held in a small auditorium at Micron's Boise headquarters.
ÿÿ Though analysts avoided the media, one complained to Appleton during the shareholders' question-and-answer session: ''Why all the secrecy? Is <Picture>Micron<Picture> going to change the way it communicates with us. All we get is piecemeal information filtering around.''
ÿÿ Appleton would only promise that he and his investor-relations executive would discuss ways to improve communication with Wall Street.
ÿÿ ''Don't ask me [questions] about my limited sabbatical,'' Appleton told analysts and shareholders. ''I don't intend to respond to them.''
ÿÿ He did say later that, regarding the board fight, it is unrealistic to expect ''a group of strong leaders not to express their opinions. We are here, the company is focused, doing its job and moving forward.''
ÿÿ Analysts worry that such protracted board battles can harm the company. Micron is on the downhill side of a boom in the market for dynamic random-access memory chips, or DRAMs, used to store data in a computer's working space as opposed to its hard disk.
ÿÿ Chip prices began to fall in September, and the downward trend has been accelerating with a slowdown in the PC market.
ÿMicron remains profitable. It just came off a record fiscal 1996 first quarter, but fears about the memory market have lowered the company's market value by $15 billion since September.
ÿÿ Micron's shares grew from $20 a year ago to more than $90 in September. They closed at 33 5/8 Monday in composite trading in the New York Stock Exchange.
ÿÿ Micron's fabrication facility in Lehi still is scheduled for completion, while most of the remaining structures will be put into mothballs. Marketing Vice President Gene Cloud said he expects that the first product out of the manufacturing plant early next year will be the 16-megabyte DRAM chip.
ÿÿ Also, the company's board will decide, on a quarter-by-quarter basis, whether to pay shareholders a dividend. Some in the audience -- including Simplot -- favor a strong dividend; others would rather see that money used for expansion, rather than borrowing money and paying interest.
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