The old Assabet Woolen Company mill complex in downtown Maynard became the home of Digital Equipment Corporation, starting in 1957, after Ken Olsen and his new business partners quit MIT's Lincoln Lab with a groundbreaking idea for minicomputers. The new company was soon occupying the entire 19-building mill complex, and having pioneered many minicomputer systems, Digital became the second largest computer maker in the world, second only to IBM. In 1990, it employed 124,000 people (having by then moved beyond the old mill), and for many years it was ranked as the largest company based in Massachusetts. Digital, was one of the few long-term success stories of Route 128's computer industry, was later acquired by Compaq, which was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2002 (for $25 billion), and was retired as a brand in 2010.