OCZ Technology Appoints Rafael Torres as Chief Financial Officer

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the appointment of Rafael Torres as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) reporting directly to Ralph Schmitt, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) effective immediately. Torres, age 45, joins OCZ with over 15 years of experience as a senior leader in finance and over 10 years serving as CFO. Torres replaces Arthur Knapp, age 64, who is leaving the Company to begin his retirement.

"We are very excited that Rafael has joined our team as CFO and believe that his proven track record in all aspects of financial management will provide immediate benefits to our Company," said Ralph Schmitt, CEO for OCZ Technology. "We also would like to take this opportunity to thank Art Knapp for his nine years of service to OCZ as CFO and wish him the very best in his retirement. Art helped build OCZ to be a leading provider of solid-state storage and power management solutions, and will continue to assist us as we complete our restatement. He played a critical role in first identifying and then rectifying the problems surrounding our recent financial reporting."

"I enjoyed being involved with a very talented team who built a multi hundred million dollar SSD business basically from scratch," stated Art Knapp, Retiring CFO for OCZ Technology. "While we uncovered some issues in recent times, with achievements such as the recent financing, I feel that we have made significant progress to put the Company back on the right path. Rafael will inherit a good business, with clean financials, to use as a base to build a profitable business."

Prior to joining OCZ, Torres served as CFO and Vice President of Finance for Capella Photonics where he successfully raised new capital and developed a financial infrastructure to support a fast-growing start-up. Before joining Capella, Torres was the CFO and Vice President of Finance for Power Integrations (NASDAQ) where he led a financial turnaround that he successfully achieved. Prior to that, Torres was CFO and Vice President of Finance for PLX Technology (NASDAQ) and through his leadership, returned the company to profitability and significantly increased their cash position.

"I am very excited to join OCZ at this time of its evolution being highly regarded for its technological advances and extensive portfolio of award-winning client and enterprise solid-state drives and power supply units," said Rafael Torres. "My skill set and experience in strategic business planning, risk management, SEC reporting, treasury operations, accounting and tax management are an ideal fit for helping make an immediate contribution to the success of the Company moving forward."

Mr. Torres holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from Santa Clara University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:07 pm CDT