OCZ founder and CEO Ryan Peterson steps down
updated 07:26 pm EDT, Tue September 18, 2012
No reason given for departure, poor financial results suspected
SSD manufacturer OCZ Technology Group has accepted the resignation of Chief Executive Officer and founder Ryan Petersen. Filling in is Chief Marketing Officer Alex Mei. Mei will do double-duty at the company, retaining his current duties as marketing head and executive vice president until a permanent replacement is found. No reason for the executive's departure has been offered.
Prior to the departure, the stock price of the company had dropped 33 percent. The company has sustained losses in four consecutive fiscal years, and has reported second-quarter sales that have missed projected targets in part to an industry-wide shortage of NAND chips. OCZ's stock has seen a 52-week high of $10.05, and closed the day at $4.13 per share, down another 1.8 percent. The stock has dropped 12.5 percent in less than a week.
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Ryan for his vision and his service to OCZ," said OCZ's lead independent director Adam Epstein. He added that "there wouldn't be an OCZ without Ryan, and his contributions to the company and to the DRAM and SSD industries are far too numerous to mention. We wish him and his family the very best for the future."
Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst Andrew Nowinski reported to investors that "given the persistent concerns from investors regarding management credibility, we believe the resignation had more to do with the company’s performance relative to guidance rather than any sort of misconduct issues."
