CORTE MADERA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RH (NYSE:RH) today announced the appointment of Prakash Muppirala as Chief Technology Officer and President of RH Digital Innovations.
Mr. Muppirala will lead RH's efforts to build a leading digital platform by forming a technology company that will develop unique and proprietary capabilities to amplify RH's pursuit of becoming one of the most admired brands and business platforms in the world.
Gary Friedman, RH Chairman and Chief Executive Officer commented, “We are delighted to announce the appointment of Prakash Muppirala as Chief Technology Officer and President of RH Digital Innovations. Prakash has a deep background as an engineer and technology leader who has personally developed numerous patented systems, and participated in the architecture of complex business platforms. His unique experience at both eBay for nine years, and Staples for the past four years, has prepared him to lead this important new business unit of RH.”
Mr. Muppirala said, “I am excited to be joining RH, a brand that is at the forefront of innovation in retail. I look forward to working with the RH team and contributing to future developments and the continued evolution of the Company.”
Prior to joining RH, Mr. Muppirala served as Senior Vice President, Global e-Commerce at Staples, Inc. leading large teams globally across product, architecture, engineering, quality, operations and site reliability engineering. Prior to Staples, Mr. Muppirala held director of engineering and architecture roles at eBay Inc., AOL/Netscape, and Siemens Inc. Mr. Muppirala has also founded multiple startups and holds several patents in the internet and ecommerce areas. Mr. Muppirala received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from the National Institute of Technology, India and a master’s degree in engineering management from Santa Clara University.
About RH
RH (NYSE: RH) is a curator of design, taste and style in the luxury lifestyle market. The Company offers collections through its retail galleries, source books, and online at RH.com, RHModern.com, and Waterworks.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws including statements related to: RH’s plans to build a leading digital platform, form a technology company and develop unique and proprietary capabilities; RH’s pursuit of becoming one of the most admired brands and business platforms in the world; RH’s creation of a new business unit and Mr. Muppirala’s ability to lead this new business unit and develop new technologies and capabilities for RH. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements may include words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of the timing or nature of future events. We cannot assure you that future developments affecting us will be those that we have anticipated. Important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, among others, our ability to retain key personnel; successful implementation of our growth strategy; our ability to take advantage of the transaction with Waterworks; uncertainties in the current performance of our business including a range of risks related to our operations as well as external economic factors; general economic conditions and the impact on consumer confidence and spending; changes in customer demand for our products; factors affecting our outstanding convertible senior notes; our ability to anticipate consumer preferences and buying trends, and maintaining our brand promise to customers; changes in consumer spending based on weather and other conditions beyond our control; risks related to the number of new business initiatives we are undertaking; strikes and work stoppages affecting port workers and other industries involved in the transportation of our products; our ability to obtain our products in a timely fashion or in the quantities required; our ability to employ reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect personal information that we collect; our ability to support our growth with appropriate information technology systems; risks related to “conflict minerals” compliance and its impact on sourcing, if any, as well as those risks and uncertainties disclosed under the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in RH’s most recent Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and similar disclosures in subsequent reports filed with the SEC, which are available on our investor relations website at ir.restorationhardware.com and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date on which we make it. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by any applicable securities laws.