Simplot Reduces Stake In Micron Technology

SEATTLE - Idaho potato mogul J.R. Simplot said yesterday he sold 4.2 million shares of Micron Technology Inc. for $92 million in the latest transaction reducing his family's stake in the computer-chip maker.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Simplot said he sold the shares, which have been trading at their lowest level in more than a year, to reduce his exposure.

Simplot sold the shares Thursday, one of the year's worst days for technology stocks, when Micron tumbled $4.125 to close at $20.50 on the New York Stock Exchange, compared with a peak of more than $94 in September. Micron rose 87.5 cents to close yesterday at $21.375.

Simplot, 87, still owns 13.9 million shares or 6.6 percent of Boise, Idaho-based Micron, whose business has been suffering with a sharp decline in memory chip prices. The Simplot family holding company controls another 21.3 million shares or 10.2 percent of the computer-chip manufacturer, but that figure also has been falling.