Computer Memories’ Rubin Remains Upbeat

For Irwin Rubin, the ever-buoyant chairman and chief executive of Chatsworth-based Computer Memories, the time has come to exploit the power of positive thinking.

He has to try something to boost the sagging fortunes of his disk-drive company and its shareholders. Last week Computer Memories disclosed that it was losing its biggest customer, IBM, at the end of the year. The company’s stock plummeted.

That is no small concern to Rubin or the other shareholders attending Computer Memories’ annual meeting today.

Rubin, the largest individual shareholder in Computer Memories, holds a 4.8% stake that he acquired with a $200,000 investment in the company after helping establish it in 1980. He doesn’t have to try hard to empathize with other investors. The value of his holdings fell from $3.08 million to $1.61 million on Aug. 12, when the stock’s trading price dropped from $5.75 to $3 after the news about the IBM contract was disclosed.

The next day Computer Memories’ stock, which reached its record high of $30.25 two years ago, fell to an all-time low of $2.75. By Monday’s close, the stock was up slightly, to $2.87, bringing the paper value of Rubin’s stake to $1.54 million. His mood was up as well.

“I was depressed as can be,” Rubin said. “But all my life I’ve thought positively, so I told myself, ‘Irwin, do that again,’ and I did . . .

Company officials said Computer Memories, with 444 workers in Chatsworth and 860 employees in Singapore, will possibly try to minimize layoffs by cutting work weeks and using short-term furloughs.