Otto Schwethelm

Otto brings over 30 years of experience as an accounting and finance executive, predominately in the energy sector. He has served as CFO of MP Materials, Tesoro Corporation, Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Company and a Saudi Arabian family-owned leader in the provision of multiple-sector contracting services. In his capacity as CFO, Otto was responsible for all accounting and finance functions including internal and external reporting, tax, treasury, investor and bank relations, as well as information technology, purchasing and security.

Otto spent seven years in Saudi Arabia with the Internal Audit department of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, and three years with the State Auditor of Texas supervising the compliance & financial audits of The University of Texas System. In addition, Otto has extensive experience in real estate as a former Texas Real Estate Broker and Certified Review Appraiser.

While serving as Treasurer and CAO of a Texas Hill Country based community bank, Otto helped form a single-bank holding company which grew to seven banks and three non-bank subsidiaries through organic growth and external acquisition.

Otto has led a variety of successful projects including ERP implementations (SAP & Oracle), development of a ten-year strategic plan, establishment of a shared services function, roll-out of an enterprise risk management process, closing, budget and forecast process improvements and has facilitated over $4 billion of acquisition related financing.

Otto received his BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Public Auditor and a Certified Fraud Examiner. He began his career with Touche Ross & Co., a predecessor to a Big Four Accounting Firm and has been active in supporting numerous not-for-profit organizations throughout his career as a board member and volunteer.