3 Top Micron Technology Officers Quit : Computers: Analysts mystified by move, but speculation centers on strife with board member.

In a surprise announcement, Micron Technology Inc. said Monday that Chief Executive Joe Parkinson and two other top officers will resign from the computer chip company for “personal reasons.”

Top officers of Micron’s largest subsidiary, the chip-making operation, were named to lead the entire company. Micron, the world’s ninth-largest maker of computer memory chips, has performed well in recent years, and analysts were at a loss to explain the action.

“Usually, when you watch a company, you see some shuffling around that suggests a transition,” said Jim Handy, principal analyst at Dataquest Inc. in San Jose. “We didn’t see anything that indicated to us there would be any change that way here.”

Company spokeswoman Julie Nash said she could not elaborate on the resignations.

Market analysts said speculation centered on upper management’s disagreements with agricultural magnate J.R. Simplot, a Micron board member and an original investor in the company. They said he has lobbied Micron management for a common dividend higher than the current 5 cents per share.

Micron closed down $1.75 at $39.675 on the New York Stock Exchange. The resignations were announced after the market closed.

Micron employs 5,300 people in Boise, Ida., and earned $259 million on sales of $1.14 billion during the nine months ended June 2.