Like a slow rollercoaster, the Semiconductor industry moves in four-year cycles. The cycle length is more or less constant, but the timing of cycles is different in each industry subsector. While Nvidia will report on its own upcycle tomorrow, the Hybrid Semiconductor Companies will remain stuck on the downslope for at least another quarter.The cycles are no surprise, but navigating the downcycle is risky, and two CEOs did not make it. The two companies that changed leadership pursued two very different strategies.While Microchip took the frugal route of expense control, pay cuts and reduction in CapEx, Wolfspeed maintained its wild spending spree on fab expansions despite not being profitable for years. Where the two companies strayed away from the pack was in operating profits. While Microchip stayed profitable, it got too close to the line for CEO survival.