Joy Covey, Amazon executive, dead at 50

Joy Covey, the former financial executive at Amazon who helped take the company public, was killed Wednesday when she collided with a minivan while riding her bicycle.

Covey, 50, was riding downhill in Potola Valley, Calif., when the accident occurred. She was wearing a helmet, but was pronounced dead at the scene, said a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Redwood City.

After joining Amazon in December 1996, Covey served first as CFO and then later chief strategy officer, and was considered instrumental in keeping investors patient as the Internet company grew from a groundbreaking start-up to Internet retail giant.

She was named to the 50 most powerful women by Forbes in 1999, and left Amazon in April 2000. In 2003, she was named to JetBlue's board of directors and became a trustee of the National Resources Defense Council.

Covey is survived by her son, Tyler.