Foster City, CA—Employees at EFI, a large-format printer manufacturer, are mourning the passing of the company founder and first CEO, Efraim “Efi” Arazi, who died April 14th on his 76th birthday.
“We are all deeply saddened by the passing of our founder and one of the most influential leaders in the history of our industry, and we send our sympathies and condolences to Efi’s family,” said Guy Gecht, the current CEO of EFI. “Though no longer with us, Efi’s spirit of entrepreneurship, brilliant creativity and love of innovation will always remain at EFI.”
Arazi created his namesake company in 1988 after a pioneering, 20-year career as the founder, president and CEO of the first Israeli high-tech firm, Scitex Corporation. He served as chairman, president and CEO of Electronics for Imaging (EFI) from 1988 until 1994, guiding the business from modest beginnings, with 18 employees in North Beach, San Francisco. Under his leadership and technical guidance, EFI launched Fiery in 1991, the printing industry’s first color server. The product was an immediate success, leading to significant OEM partner contracts with leading color printer manufacturers.
Arazi completed an initial public offering for EFI in 1992, and in 1994, Fortune magazine named EFI the nation’s fastest-growing public company.
Efraim Arazi is widely considered to be the father of Israel’s high-tech industry for his role with Scitex. In the late 1960s, he also worked with NASA while studying at MIT, developing the camera used to broadcast the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. efi.com
