Jacob "Jake" Horton (died April 10, 1989) was a senior vice-president of Southern Company's Gulf Power Unit, killed when a corporate plane caught fire and crashed, shortly after takeoff from Pensacola, Florida. Journalist Greg Palast has alleged that Horton was murdered, by the corporation, in order to prevent him from accusing the Board of Directors of making illegal payments to politicians (1 -- p. 109).