An Wang put his son in charge of a $3 billion company, the son was out by 1989, and Wang Laboratories went bankrupt in 1992

An Wang, a Chinese immigrant, founded Wang Laboratories in Boston in 1951 with his savings, $600 in one account, as its only employee. He developed magnetic core memory and held more than 40 patents. The company grew 41 percent a year for a decade on calculators, word processors and office computers. The family kept control through a special class of shares. In 1985 it lost $109 million in one quarter, its first loss, and cut 1,600 jobs. President John Cunningham left. Analysts saw Wang's eldest son, Fred, as heir apparent. Fred became president in 1986^†. Sales reached about $3 billion a year by 1989. On 7 August 1989 Fred left as president and chief operating officer after heavy losses. Richard Miller, a former General Electric executive, replaced him. An Wang died of esophageal cancer at Massachusetts General Hospital on 24 March 1990, aged 70. Wang Laboratories filed for bankruptcy protection in August 1992. Miller said An Wang had been drawing up bankruptcy petitions even after Fred left. Eastman Kodak bought the Wang software unit in 1997 for $260 million.