Former Amazon Executive Killed in Bicycle Accident

A little reported news story that went largely unnoticed in the month of September was the death of a former star Amazon executive in a bicycle accident in California. Joy Covey was a former CFO at Amazon, and had a big role to play in the early start of days of the Internet retail giant. She died in September in an accident in San Mateo County.

50-year-old Cody was one of the main forces behind Amazon’s public run. Between 1996 and 1999, she served as not just the CFO, but also the VP of finance and administration at Amazon. During that same period time, she was also named one of the 50 most successful businesswomen in the United States by Fortune magazine.

She left the company voluntarily in 2000, and since then, had spent much of her time raising her eight-year-old son. She got herself a pilot’s license, and indulged in her love of extreme sports, including skiing, rock climbing and kite boarding. She was also very heavily involved in environmental causes.
That full and promising life came to an abrupt end in September, when she was struck by a van as she was cycling in San Mateo County. She was riding on a rural road, when she collided with a minivan.

According to the California Highway Patrol Officer who responded to the scene of the accident, she was wearing a helmet at the time, but her injuries are simply too severe for her to survive. It appears that the minivan turned right in front of the bicycle, and she was not able to stop in time. The bicycle was traveling downhill at the time of the accident.The minivan driver, a 22-year-old, has not yet been cited. However, investigations into the accident are still going on.