Riot Platforms Announces Hiring of Jonathan Gibbs as Chief Data Center Officer to Lead Data Center Platform

Rhea-AI Summary

Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) has appointed Jonathan Gibbs as Chief Data Center Officer (CDCO) to lead its new data center platform development. This strategic move aims to diversify beyond bitcoin mining by developing non-bitcoin data centers for hyperscale and enterprise clients. Gibbs brings over 15 years of experience in data center development, having overseen projects totaling more than one gigawatt of capacity across North America, Europe, and Asia, with infrastructure investments exceeding $17 billion. Previously serving as Executive VP of Product Delivery at Prime Data Centers, Gibbs will leverage Riot's 1.7 gigawatts power pipeline to develop state-of-the-art facilities. This expansion aligns with Riot's strategy to maximize asset value, generate long-term cash returns, and capitalize on growing demand for digital infrastructure driven by cloud computing and AI applications.

Positive

• Strategic diversification beyond bitcoin mining into traditional data center operations
• Access to 1.7 gigawatts of immediately available power capacity near major markets
• Appointment of experienced executive with $17B+ infrastructure investment track record
• Potential for new revenue streams from hyperscale and enterprise clients

Negative

• Significant capital investment likely required for new data center development
• Potential execution risks in expanding into new business segment
• Increased competition in traditional data center market compared to bitcoin mining

Insights

Enterprise Technology & Strategy Analyst

Riot's new CDCO hire signals strategic diversification beyond Bitcoin mining into hyperscale data centers, leveraging existing power assets amid AI infrastructure demand.

Riot Platforms' appointment of Jonathan Gibbs as Chief Data Center Officer marks a significant strategic pivot for the Bitcoin mining company. This move represents a deliberate diversification strategy to expand beyond cryptocurrency operations into the broader high-performance computing data center market, specifically targeting hyperscale and enterprise clients.

The timing is particularly strategic given the explosive demand for AI infrastructure. Riot is positioning to leverage its considerable power capacity assets (referenced as 1.7 gigawatts in their pipeline) to capitalize on the acute shortage of power-ready sites for AI computing – currently one of the most constrained resources in the tech industry.

What makes this particularly valuable is Riot's existing power and land portfolio, which typically represents the most challenging and time-consuming aspect of data center development. By repurposing assets originally secured for Bitcoin mining toward enterprise data centers, Riot is effectively creating a dual-use infrastructure strategy that provides resilience against Bitcoin's volatility.

Gibbs brings substantial credibility with his track record of developing over one gigawatt of data center capacity and $17 billion in infrastructure investments across global markets. His experience specifically with hyperscale clients – likely including major cloud providers – suggests Riot is targeting long-term, stable tenants with predictable revenue streams as opposed to the more cyclical nature of their Bitcoin mining operations.

This diversification reduces Riot's dependency on cryptocurrency market conditions while maintaining their ability to pivot computing resources based on market conditions, effectively creating a more balanced business model that could appeal to a broader range of institutional investors seeking exposure to digital infrastructure without pure cryptocurrency risk.

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., June 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Riot Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT) ("Riot" or "the Company"),  a Bitcoin-driven industry leader in the development of large scale data centers for high performance compute and bitcoin mining applications, today announced the hiring of Jonathan Gibbs as Chief Data Center Officer ("CDCO") to lead the development of Riot's data center platform. In this role, Jonathan will lead the strategic development and operations of this new platform, which will focus on building and operating state-of-the-art data centers specifically tailored to serve hyperscale and enterprise tenants.

The creation of this new data center platform furthers Riot's strategy to maximize the value of its assets by expanding into the development of non-bitcoin-related data centers, which diversifies the Company's revenues, enhances Riot's ability to generate long-term cash returns for investors and strengthens its capabilities to contract with the world's leading technology companies. This additional platform will build on the success of Riot's vertically-integrated strategy of utilizing bitcoin mining at scale to create significant value across its land and power portfolio and positions the Company to capitalize on the upsurge in demand for digital infrastructure driven by the growing need for cloud computing, AI and other compute-intensive applications.

"We are excited to bring Jonathan on as Chief Data Center Officer to lead our new platform," said Jason Les, CEO of Riot. "Jonathan brings extensive expertise, strong industry relationships, and a proven track record of successfully developing data centers for hyperscale and enterprise tenants. Given the significant amount of immediately available capacity within our portfolio, we are looking forward to the opportunity to drive continued shareholder value creation as we focus on aggressively scaling data center development to meet the surging demand for high performance computing."

Jonathan brings over 15 years of experience designing and building large-scale, state-of-the-art data centers, delivering high-quality infrastructure for hyperscale and enterprise tenants. Jonathan has led the development of data centers totaling more than one gigawatt of capacity, with a portfolio spanning North America, Europe, and Asia. Over his career, Jonathan has overseen and contributed to infrastructure design, procurement, construction, and sustainability initiatives representing more than $17 billion in investment.  Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President of Product Delivery at Prime Data Centers, where he led the design, development and construction of data centers throughout the United States.

"I'm incredibly excited to join Riot and lead this new platform which will leverage Riot's unique development expertise and asset portfolio," said Jonathan Gibbs, CDCO for Riot. "With a pipeline of over 1.7 gigawatts of power immediately available and in close proximity to major markets, Riot is uniquely positioned to develop data centers which will address the strong market demand."

About Riot Platforms, Inc.

Riot's (NASDAQ: RIOT) vision is to be the world's leading Bitcoin-driven infrastructure platform. Our mission is to positively impact the sectors, networks, and communities that we touch. We believe that the combination of an innovative spirit and strong community partnership allows the Company to achieve best-in-class execution and create successful outcomes.

Riot is a Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure company focused on a vertically integrated strategy. The Company has Bitcoin mining operations in central Texas and Kentucky, and electrical engineering and fabrication operations in Denver, Colorado, and Houston, Texas.

For more information, visit www.riotplatforms.com.

Safe Harbor

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect management's current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements rely on the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "plans," "expects," "intends," "will," "potential," "hope," similar expressions and their negatives are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Company's development at its Corsicana Facility and the Company's plans, projections, objectives, expectations, and intentions about future events and trends that it believes may affect the Company's financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation: risks related to the Company's growth, the anticipated demand for AI/HPC uses, the feasibility of developing the Company's power capacity for AI/HPC uses, competition in the markets in which the Company operates, market growth, the Company's ability to innovate and expand into new markets, the Company's ability to realize benefits from its implementation of new strategies into its business, estimates of Bitcoin production; our future hash rate growth (EH/s); the anticipated benefits, construction schedule, and costs associated with the development of our mining facilities in Texas, Kentucky and elsewhere; our expected schedule of new miner deliveries; our access to electrical power; the impact of weather events on our operations and results; our ability to successfully deploy new miners; the variance in our mining pool rewards may negatively impact our results of Bitcoin production; our megawatt capacity under development; risks related to the Company's inability to realize the anticipated benefits from immersion cooling; the inability to integrate acquired businesses successfully, or such integration may take longer or be more difficult, time-consuming or costly to accomplish than anticipated; or the failure of the Company to otherwise realize anticipated efficiencies and strategic and financial benefits from our business strategies. Detailed information regarding the factors identified by the Company's management which they believe may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements in this press release may be found in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including the risks, uncertainties and other factors discussed under the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, as amended, and the other filings the Company makes with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any such forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that subsequently occur, or of which the Company hereafter becomes aware, except as required by law. Persons reading this press release are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements.

Investor Contact:
Phil McPherson
303-794-2000 ext. 110
IR@Riot.Inc

Media Contact:
Alexis Brock
303-794-2000 ext. 118
PR@Riot.Inc

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SOURCE Riot Platforms, Inc.

FAQ

Who is Jonathan Gibbs and what is his role at Riot Platforms (RIOT)?

Jonathan Gibbs is Riot Platforms' new Chief Data Center Officer (CDCO), responsible for leading the development of the company's new data center platform for hyperscale and enterprise clients. He brings over 15 years of experience and has overseen data center projects worth over $17 billion.

How much power capacity does Riot Platforms (RIOT) have available for data centers?

Riot Platforms has a pipeline of over 1.7 gigawatts of power immediately available and in close proximity to major markets for data center development.

How is Riot Platforms (RIOT) diversifying its business?

Riot is diversifying by expanding from bitcoin mining into developing non-bitcoin data centers for hyperscale and enterprise tenants, leveraging its existing infrastructure to serve cloud computing, AI, and other compute-intensive applications.

What is the strategic importance of RIOT's new data center platform?

The new platform aims to diversify revenue streams, generate long-term cash returns, and capitalize on growing demand for digital infrastructure while maximizing the value of Riot's existing assets and power portfolio.

What experience does Jonathan Gibbs bring to Riot Platforms (RIOT)?

Gibbs has over 15 years of experience in data center development, having led projects totaling more than one gigawatt of capacity across North America, Europe, and Asia, with infrastructure investments exceeding $17 billion.