Safi U Qureshey

Safi Qureshey is alone at the top of AST Research Inc., the swashbuckling Irvine computer clone maker that was started by three co-founders, who were dubbed the Three Musketeers. After the departures of co-founder Albert Wong in 1988 and the recent ouster of Thomas Yuen, Qureshey will lead Orange County's largest computer company through the industry's toughest price war to date. He talked with Times staff writer Dean Takahashi about his plans for the company and the difficult parting with Yuen.

Leaping from a chair in his sparsely decorated office, Safi U. Qureshey grabs a felt-tipped pen and maps out his vision for the future of AST Research Inc., the deeply troubled computer manufacturer he helped found 15 years ago. * Scrawling diagrams on a white drawing board, he describes a world in which computer manufacturers such as AST will increasingly link arms with software publishers, on-line services and entertainment companies.

Safi U. Qureshey, co-chairman and chief executive of Irvine-based AST Research Inc., has written a column scheduled to appear in the May-June issue of the Harvard Business Review. In the column, titled "How I Learned to Live With Wall Street," Qureshey reflects on how he and fellow co-founders Tom Yuen and Albert Wong helped to build a company that last year had sales of more than $530 million.

Safi Qureshey, chief executive of computer maker AST Research Inc., Tuesday was appointed chairman of a statewide alliance of education and business leaders who want to make the state more competitive. Qureshey heads the California Business-Higher Education Forum, a nonprofit group including 60 CEOs of major companies who will lobby the state government to make California more attractive to businesses and improve overall education.

Scores of companies sprouted in Orange County during the 1980s after the introduction of the International Business Machines personal computer--a machine that changed the way many of us work and live. This week marks the 10th anniversary of the IBM PC, and several Orange County computer executives were asked to reflect on the machine's past and present impact: Jim Farooquee Chief executive of CMS Enhancements, Irvine, maker of computer enhancements and computer-marketing firm.

Consolidating his control of AST Research Inc., Safi U. Qureshey has taken the post of chairman in addition to his titles of president and chief executive, the company said Wednesday. At the same time, Carmelo J. Santoro, who took over as chairman from Qureshey little more than a year ago, becomes vice chairman of the Irvine-based computer maker. The pair will continue in their roles as the company's leaders, with Qureshey controlling day-to-day operations and Santoro acting as an adviser.

In the 15 months since resigning as chief operating officer of AST Research Inc., Thomas C.K. Yuen has taken three vacation cruises, relaxed at his Newport Beach mansion and decided that he wants to create another computer company. Yuen, 41, established AST in his garage with Safi U. Qureshey and Albert V. Wong. Together, they built the 13-year-old company into a Fortune 500 concern. Always the entrepreneur, Yuen has formed an Irvine holding company, Atlantis Computers Inc.

When Thomas C. K. Yuen co-founded AST Research Inc. in 1980, he already knew that he was not a well man. A life-threatening kidney condition, which led to debilitating dialysis treatment over the past decade, gave the immigrant from Hong Kong an intense desire to succeed in his business, he said in an April interview. To some, that zeal came across as a heavy-handed management style, and some people speculated Monday that it may have precipitated his abrupt departure.

U.S. companies have been about as successful selling personal computers in Tokyo as the Japanese were at selling Hondas in Detroit 20 years ago. Even deep-pocketed Apple Computer has had little success selling a Japanese-language version of its Macintosh machine in Japan. So when AST Research announced April 10 that it would become the first U.S. company to sell a clone of NEC Corp.'s popular PC in Japan, many on Wall Street expressed skepticism about the venture.

Ever fond of gossip, the computer industry hummed with speculation this week: Why did co-founder Thomas C. K. Yuen leave AST Research Inc.? The consensus is that Yuen lost a months-long power struggle with Safi U. Qureshey, with whom he shared the title of co-chairman at the rags-to-riches Irvine-based clone-maker. "Tom got ousted," said one source, who asked not to be named. Said another: "Safi pulled a coup."

Consolidating his control of AST Research Inc., Safi U. Qureshey has taken the post of chairman in addition to his titles of president and chief executive, the company said Wednesday. At the same time, Carmelo J. Santoro, who took over as chairman from Qureshey little more than a year ago, becomes vice chairman of the Irvine-based computer maker. The pair will continue in their roles as the company's leaders, with Qureshey controlling day-to-day operations and Santoro acting as an adviser.

From its humble beginnings 12 years ago, when three immigrant engineers--working in a garage--risked all they had to launch a small computer company, AST Research Inc. has reinvented itself many times. The toughest transformation may be yet to come, however, as Chief Executive Safi U. Qureshey, the last of the original "Three Musketeers," attempts to make the Irvine-based company a recognized major player in the computer manufacturing industry.

In the 15 months since resigning as chief operating officer of AST Research Inc., Thomas C.K. Yuen has taken three vacation cruises, relaxed at his Newport Beach mansion and decided that he wants to create another computer company. Yuen, 41, established AST in his garage with Safi U. Qureshey and Albert V. Wong. Together, they built the 13-year-old company into a Fortune 500 concern. Always the entrepreneur, Yuen has formed an Irvine holding company, Atlantis Computers Inc.

AST Research Inc. scored a public relations coup last week when Vice President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to promote an overhaul of the federal bureaucracy, told a group of reporters that the Orange County personal computer maker was a model of reinventing. "We now have AST computers in the White House, and I've got one sitting on my desk," Gore said during a meeting with employees at AST's Fountain Valley computer plant. "I can't tell you how impressed I am with this company." Safi U.

Safi Qureshey is alone at the top of AST Research Inc., the swashbuckling Irvine computer clone maker that was started by three co-founders, who were dubbed the Three Musketeers. After the departures of co-founder Albert Wong in 1988 and the recent ouster of Thomas Yuen, Qureshey will lead Orange County's largest computer company through the industry's toughest price war to date. He talked with Times staff writer Dean Takahashi about his plans for the company and the difficult parting with Yuen.

Ever fond of gossip, the computer industry hummed with speculation this week: Why did co-founder Thomas C. K. Yuen leave AST Research Inc.? The consensus is that Yuen lost a months-long power struggle with Safi U. Qureshey, with whom he shared the title of co-chairman at the rags-to-riches Irvine-based clone-maker. "Tom got ousted," said one source, who asked not to be named. Said another: "Safi pulled a coup."

From its humble beginnings 12 years ago, when three immigrant engineers--working in a garage--risked all they had to launch a small computer company, AST Research Inc. has reinvented itself many times. The toughest transformation may be yet to come, however, as Chief Executive Safi U. Qureshey, the last of the original "Three Musketeers," attempts to make the Irvine-based company a recognized major player in the computer manufacturing industry.

The computer industry hummed with speculation this week: Why did co-founder Thomas C. K. Yuen leave AST Research Inc.? Neither Yuen nor Safi U. Qureshey, chief executive and the last of three immigrant co-founders remaining at the rags-to-riches Fortune 500 company, is talking to the news media since Yuen's abrupt departure Monday.

The computer industry hummed with speculation this week: Why did co-founder Thomas C. K. Yuen leave AST Research Inc.? Neither Yuen nor Safi U. Qureshey, chief executive and the last of three immigrant co-founders remaining at the rags-to-riches Fortune 500 company, is talking to the news media since Yuen's abrupt departure Monday.

When Thomas C. K. Yuen co-founded AST Research Inc. in 1980, he already knew that he was not a well man. A life-threatening kidney condition, which led to debilitating dialysis treatment over the past decade, gave the immigrant from Hong Kong an intense desire to succeed in his business, he said in an April interview. To some, that zeal came across as a heavy-handed management style, and some people speculated Monday that it may have precipitated his abrupt departure.