Wang Family to Keep Control of Ailing Firm

The family of the late An Wang says it will keep its “ownership position” in Wang Laboratories Inc. and support President Richard Miller’s plan to revitalize the troubled computer company.

Frederick A. Wang, the son of the company founder who died Saturday of esophageal cancer, said Sunday that family members believe “that the long-term plan now being implemented to return the company to profitability will achieve its objectives and that implementation of the plan remains the best means through which to maximize stockholders’ value in the company.

“We support Rick Miller and the other members of the Wang management team in their efforts to build a strong and growing company,” he said.

Frederick Wang was replaced by Miller last fall after resigning as company president in a management shake-up ordered by his father. Frederick Wang remains a company director.

At the end of 1989, despite the elimination of 8,000 jobs worldwide, Wang Laboratories posted a six-month loss of $72 million.

The family holds roughly two-thirds of the voting shares in the company, which has annual revenue of about $3 billion, said Wang spokesman Paul Guzzi.

A regularly scheduled meeting of the company’s board is to be held Wednesday in Lowell, where the company is based, Guzzi said.

Guzzi declined to say whether Frederick Wang would be named chairman and chief executive but said “the whole issue of successorship to Dr. Wang will be resolved and clarified Wednesday.”

Meanwhile, a memorial service was scheduled for this afternoon for An Wang at the Memorial Church on the Harvard campus.

Starting with $600 in working capital and a loft in Boston’s South End, Wang built a company that pioneered desktop electronic calculators, word processing, mini-computers and image processing.

Among his legacies is the Wang Center for Performing Arts, a key component of efforts to revitalize Boston’s theater district.