Speculation was mounting on Friday that Digital Equipment Corp founder and president Ken Olsen, who announced late Thursday that he would retire from the company effective October 1, was pushed by a dissident board, although nothing was coming out of the company. DEC was in further turmoil on Friday when European chief Pier Carlo Falotti also resigned – presumably on grounds that he thought that he should have got the top job. John Smith, senior vice-president, operations, will succeed Falotti on a temporary basis. Olsen, who founded DEC in 1957, had said in April he had no plans to retire; he has nominated to succeed him the company’s vice-president, manufacturing and logistics Robert Palmer, who co-founded Mostek and joined DEC in 1985.
