text: A Conversation with Joy Covey Joy Covey '89, a graduate of the J.D./M.B.A. program, recently wrapped up four years at Amazon.com, where she worked as the chief financial officer and strategist for the online retail giant. Since leaving Amazon.com in 2000, Covey has focused her time on family, travel, and a private foundation. In addition, she has become a private pilot. She serves on the Visiting Committees of HLS and the Harvard Business School. Your path to Harvard was different from most. What in your background do you think contributed to your success? I didn't finish high school--left home when I was 15. I moved away to Fresno and worked as a grocery clerk. I went to college part-time at Cal. State Fresno, and then ended up finishing in two and a half years because I wanted to get on with things. But having fallen off the track, in a way I think I acquired a sense of independence in how I make decisions. It's really helped me not worry so much whether other people approve of my choices. What was your experience like when you eventually arrived at HLS? I was completely intimidated by the rest of the class. I don't think I even knew anyone who went to an Ivy League school when I came to Harvard. Not having finished high school and having been fairly utilitarian in the way I went about college, I didn't have a deep liberal arts background. So we'd go to lunch and people would talk about their favorite seventeenth-century poets, and I'd be thinking, "Could I even name five poets? From any century?" So that was intimidating, and it wasn't until we got our first-semester grades back that I started to realize that everything was going to be OK. What part of your legal training at HLS was most useful in the no-boundaries environment of Amazon.com? It was a certain way of thinking--a structured analytical approach to breaking down questions. This is very consistent with the kind of thinking we would use at Amazon. A lot of things we did were things that hadn't been done before, or situations that had never been dealt with. Rather than asking ourselves, "How has this been done in the past? What's the answer to this question?" we said, "Where do we want to go and what are our goals?" We spent a lot of time thinking unconventionally, and thinking through things based on our core principles, which is the kind of thought process I learned in law school. Can you think of an example of when this unconventional approach was put to use at Amazon? Probably our relationship with Wall Street. Our view was that most companies depart from their best long-term business thinking in order to please Wall Street. And they often do things that are not in the best long-term interest of the business because they're under pressure from investors for short-term results. So we asked ourselves, "Who are the companies that are truly able to make decisions that are in the best long-term interests of shareholders? How do we structure our conversations with Wall Street from the very beginning, before we even go public?" We felt that was the way to create the best possible company in the long run. Do you think it's easier for women to rise through the ranks of the tech world than through more traditional sectors of the economy? Well, I can't really speak to the other parts of the economy, but what I think is very true of the tech world is that it's easy for talented people--whatever their gender, age, or race--to rise up and succeed. In fact, in my career, during the time I spent working in larger companies or, for a brief time, at an East Coast company, age would have been more of an impediment than gender. But on the West Coast, in high tech, people simply wanted to find the most talented person. And someone who was a young, really energetic person was viewed as an ideal candidate. So gender really wasn't an issue. There was such a hunger for talent. ||||| WOODSIDE -- A bicyclist killed in a Wednesday collision with a van in rural San Mateo County was Joy Covey, a groundbreaking tech executive who was chief financial officer of online retailer Amazon.com at the time of its initial public offering. 
   
   California Highway Patrol officer Arturo Montiel confirmed Thursday that Joy Dianne Covey, 50, of Woodside, was the bicyclist killed on a rural stretch of road in San Mateo County Wednesday afternoon. The Natural Resources Defense Council, for which Covey served as treasurer and a director, confirmed Thursday that the former high-powered tech executive had died. 
   
   Covey was biking on Skyline Boulevard at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when she collided with a van that turned in front of her, Montiel said. 
   
   1997: Joy Covey, then chief financial officer of Amazon.com, at the Chicago Board Options Exchange on the first day of trading options for Amazon. (AP Photo/Chicago Board Options Exchange, John Zich) 
   
   "The vehicle turned left directly in front of the bicycle, which was traveling downhill," Montiel said. 
   
   The driver, a 22-year-old Fremont man, stayed at the scene and cooperated; he has not been cited in the incident, but Montiel said the collision is still under investigation, though drugs or alcohol do not appear to be a factor. 
   
   Covey was chief financial officer at Amazon from December 1996 to September 1999, and remained at the company until April 2000, according to Bloomberg's executive profile, and was named the 28th most powerful woman in business in 1999 by Fortune Magazine. Since leaving Amazon, she has been an independent investor and consultant and served on several boards, including JetBlue Airways and the NRDC. In a 2002 interview with the Harvard Law Bulletin, Covey -- who received a law degree and MBA from the prestigious university in 1989 -- recounted dropping out of San Mateo High School at the age of 15 and working as a grocery clerk before wrapping up a degree at Fresno State in two-and-a-half years. 
   
   After leaving Amazon, Covey focused on environmental causes, establishing the Beagle Foundation and working with the NRDC. 
   
   Staff writer Joshua Melvin contributed to this report. Contact Jeremy C. Owens at 408-920-5876; follow him at Twitter.com/jowens510. ||||| The tech entrepreneur who oversaw the online retailer's massive expansion and masterminded its IPO has passed away at age 50. 
   
   A self-made woman, tech entrepreneur, and intellectual powerhouse, Joy Covey died in a bicycle accident on Wednesday. She served as Amazon's first chief financial officer and was instrumental in making the massive e-commerce company what it is today. 
   
   Covey was 50 years old when she collided with a van on a rural road in San Mateo County, according to the San Jose Mercury News. 
   
   "It's a very sad day for Amazon," Amazon spokesperson Mary Osako told CNET. "Joy was a wonderful human being and treasured colleague, and we will miss her very much." 
   
   At the time of her death, Covey was working as the treasurer for the environmental group National Resources Defense Council. But, she had a long history working in the tech sector -- and she got there using her quick intellect and determined work ethic. 
   
   In an interview with the Harvard Law Bulletin in 2002, Covey talked about how she dropped out of high school, left home when she was 15, and went to work as a grocery clerk. Shortly afterward, at 17, she decided to go to college, graduating in two and a half years from Fresno State. She then went on to get dual law and MBA degrees at Harvard in 1989. 
   
   By the time Covey joined Amazon as its CFO in 1996, she had already worked as the CFO of the digital-audio startup Digidesign. At Amazon, Covey oversaw the company's financial boom , international expansion, and various features on the site such as the video and music store launches. She also masterminded the company's initial public offering in 1997 
   
   "A lot of things we did were things that hadn't been done before, or situations that had never been dealt with," Covey told the Harvard Law Bulletin. "Rather than asking ourselves, 'How has this been done in the past? What's the answer to this question?' we said, 'Where do we want to go and what are our goals?'" 
   
   Covey left Amazon in April 2000 to focus on her family, travel, and environmental issues. Besides working for the National Resources Defense Council, Covey also established the Beagle Foundation, which gives funding to environmental causes. ||||| Former Amazon CFO killed while riding bicycle 
   
   Photo: Chicago Board Options Exchange, AP Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Joy Covey, chief financial officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com, Inc., gets pointers on trading using a hand-held market maker terminal at the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1997, by Thomas Ascher, left, vice chairman, and William Brodsky, chief executive officer of the exchange. It was the first day of trading options Wednesday for Amazon. less Joy Covey, chief financial officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com, Inc., gets pointers on trading using a hand-held market maker terminal at the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 1997, by ... more Photo: Chicago Board Options Exchange, AP Former Amazon CFO killed while riding bicycle 1 / 1 Back to Gallery 
   
   (09-19) 21:28 PDT WOODSIDE -- Joy Covey, a former chief financial officer for Amazon.com, was killed riding her bicycle in Woodside, authorities said Thursday. She was 50. 
   
   Covey was cycling northbound on Skyline Boulevard at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when a southbound Mazda minivan turned left onto Elk Tree Road and the two collided, said California Highway Patrol Officer Art Montiel. 
   
   "She was wearing a helmet, but the injuries were too severe," he said. "She was pronounced dead at the scene." 
   
   Covey was Amazon.com's chief financial officer and vice president of finance and administration from 1996 to 1999, overseeing the online retailer in its first years after it filed for an initial public offering, according to her Bloomberg executive profile. 
   
   She was named one of Fortune magazine's 50 Most Powerful Business Women in America during her time at Amazon.com. 
   
   Covey left the company in April 2000 after working various other senior management positions and was elected to Jetblue Airways' Board of Directors in 2003. A deeply committed environmentalist, according to her colleagues at the Natural Resources Defense Council, Covey served as the environmental action nonprofit's treasurer and established the Beagle Foundation, which funded a two-year fellowship with the NRDC for Harvard Law School graduates. 
   
   Covey graduated from Harvard Law School in 1989 after earning her bachelor's degree at Cal State Fresno. 
   
   "She encapsulated the heart and soul of NRDC and will be so deeply missed by all the NRDC family," Frances Beinecke, the group's president, said in a statement. "Her adventurous and indomitable spirit was infectious and she constantly challenged us to reach greater heights." 
   
   Authorities say the 22-year-old driver of the minivan that collided with Covey stayed at the scene after the crash. The investigation is ongoing, and drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor. ||||| Joy Covey, an executive who joined Amazon.com when it was a new company with big ideas and played a major role in turning those ideas into reality, died on Wednesday after the bicycle she was riding struck a delivery van in a remote stretch of San Mateo County, Calif. She was 50. 
   
   The police said that a minivan apparently making deliveries for OnTrac, a shipping service used by Amazon and other online retailers, was turning onto a side road when the accident occurred along Skyline Boulevard. Ms. Covey was pronounced dead at the scene. The van driver was not charged. 
   
   As Amazon’s first chief financial officer, Ms. Covey helped take the company public and was an independent-minded advocate for Amazon’s plans to ignore Wall Street and invest for the future. That notion, radical in its day, was the foundation for Amazon’s growth into a $61 billion retailing and entertainment behemoth. 
   
   In its early days, Amazon prided itself on its unconventional hires, telling staffing agencies to “send us your freaks.” Ms. Covey did not have a traditional background. She dropped out of high school at 15 and worked as a grocery clerk. She attended Cal State Fresno and later Harvard Law School, where, she said, she did not fit in. 
   
   “We’d go to lunch and people would talk about their favorite 17th-century poets, and I’d be thinking, ‘Could I even name five poets? From any century?’ “ 
   
   But after joining Amazon in late 1996, when its annual revenue was less than $20 million, she thrived. She sold Wall Street the debt that the company needed to expand. The company went public on May 14, 1997, with an initial offering price of $18. Shares this week were selling for more than $312. Her own wealth is estimated at more than $200 million. 
   
   Joy Dianne Covey was born on April 25, 1963, in Boston, to Maurice C. Covey, a physician, and the former Joan De Vries, a nurse. She grew up in San Mateo and lived in Woodside, Calif. 
   
   As the senior woman in a red-hot Internet company, Ms. Covey drew a great deal of attention, including a profile in Forbes magazine headlined “A Real Amazon.” 
   
   She left Amazon in 2000, as the dot-com boom was ending. Survivors include a young son, Tyler.
target: – Amazon.com's first CFO was killed Wednesday afternoon in a bicycle accident, authorities confirmed yesterday. Joy Covey, 50, was riding on a rural road in Woodside, California, when she collided with a minivan as it turned onto another street. "She was wearing a helmet, but the injuries were too severe," says a California Highway Patrol officer. "The vehicle turned left directly in front of the bicycle, which was traveling downhill." The 22-year-old driver has not been cited, but authorities are still investigating, the San Jose Mercury News reports. In a tragic twist, police say he may have been making deliveries for OnTrac—a shipping service that counts Amazon among its customers, the New York Times reports. Covey was the CFO and VP of finance and administration from 1996 to 1999, and oversaw Amazon's IPO, the San Francisco Chronicle reports; during that time she was named one of the 50 most powerful business women in America by Fortune. After leaving Amazon in 2000 she served on various boards, started a nonprofit, and most recently worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It's a very sad day for Amazon," a company spokesperson tells CNET's Dara Kerr, who describes Covey as "instrumental in making the massive e-commerce company what it is today." Many reports on her death are citing a 2002 Harvard Law Bulletin interview, in which Covey recounted dropping out of high school and working as a grocery clerk; she ended up graduating from Fresno State in just 2.5 years, and got her law and MBA degrees from Harvard. (Covey wasn't the only business leader to die this week.)