Yuen Quits as Director on AST Board : Computers: Resignation from company he co-founded likely signals end to threat of litigation over reason for departure as co-chairman.

IRVINE —  More than three weeks after leaving the computer company he co-founded, Thomas C.K. Yuen has resigned from the board of AST Research Inc., the company said Thursday.

Neither company officials nor Yuen’s attorney, Stephen Lacount, would comment on the resignation. It had been expected by company followers, however, after Yuen abruptly left his post as co-chairman and chief operating officer on June 29.

AST followers said Yuen’s voluntary resignation from his position as a director likely signals an end to any threat of lawsuits between Yuen and AST over his departure. They also said it probably means that Yuen negotiated a lucrative severance package with his former employer.

Yuen’s departure from the board is an anticlimactic ending to his storybook rise and fall at the Fortune 500 company. Yuen founded the company in a garage in 1981 with Albert Wong, who left the firm in 1988, and Safi Qureshey, chief executive.

Though company officials have not discussed the reasons for his departure, people familiar with the incident say that Yuen and Qureshey, who were instrumental in turning AST into a billion-dollar manufacturer of personal computer “clones,” clashed over control of the company. After a review by AST’s outside directors, Qureshey was chosen over Yuen as the company’s chief executive for the future, sources said.

Yuen owns about 8.4% of AST’s 30.6 million shares. That stake--2.6 million shares--is worth about $34.4 million at Thursday’s closing price of $13.25.

By leaving the board, Yuen is relieved of any fiduciary responsibilities as a director and is also free to compete in the PC industry, sources said.

Delbert W. Yocam, former chief operating officer of Apple Computer Inc., was appointed to succeed Yuen on AST’s board.