Press Release: August 22, 2000

WR Hambrecht + Co Names Michael W. Szeto Senior Managing Director of Private Equity

San Francisco, CA, August 22, 2000—WR Hambrecht + Co today announced the appointment of Michael W. Szeto as Senior Managing Director and Head of the Private Equity Group. Mr. Szeto joins WR Hambrecht + Co from J.P. Morgan where he was Managing Director in the Technology, Media and Telecom Group and led the development of its Technology M&A practice.

As head of private equity, Mr. Szeto will oversee all of WR Hambrecht + Co’s venture and leveraged buyout activities. The firm’s private equity group invests primarily in early stage network infrastructure firms, open source/embedded device companies and software-based application providers. The company also syndicates a portion of these investments online to accredited investors. To date, the firm and affiliates have invested more than $100 million in over 50 private companies.

“We are delighted to have Mike join our firm,” said Bill Hambrecht, the firm’s Chairman and CEO. “As we expand our capabilities in private equity, Mike’s corporate and Wall Street experiences will be an invaluable asset to us.”

Prior to joining J.P. Morgan in 1994, Mr. Szeto spent 18 years at IBM where he was Vice President of Corporate Development and was responsible for IBM’s merger and acquisition activities, strategic alliances, and equity investments in software and services companies. In addition to corporate development, he also served in a number of executive positions with IBM in strategic planning, sales and marketing, and finance. Mr. Szeto came to IBM from the Boston Consulting Group, where he executed strategic planning consulting projects in the technology sector.

Mr. Szeto received a B.S. and M.S. from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an MBA from Harvard Business School.