Riot Appoints Former Hut 8 CEO to Board Amid HPC Exploration

Riot Platforms has appointed three new members to its board, including former Hut 8 CEO Jaime Leverton, as the Texas-based Bitcoin mining giant explores a potential pivot into high-performance computing (HPC) hosting.

The company announced on Wednesday that Michael Turner, Doug Mouton, and Leverton have joined its board of directors following an internal nomination process with “constructive, independent” input from activist investors Starboard Value LP and The D. E. Shaw Group. Both firms have reportedly taken stakes in Riot as activist shareholders.

According to Riot, the newly appointed directors bring expertise in data center operations, real estate management, and converting Bitcoin mining assets for AI and HPC applications. During her tenure at Hut 8 Mining, Leverton led the company’s diversification into HPC hosting, through the 2022 acquisition of TeraGo’s data centers.

With these new appointments, Riot’s board now consists of six members. Leverton and Mouton will serve as Class I Directors and stand for election at Riot’s next annual shareholder meeting. Meanwhile, current directors Hannah Cho and Hubert Marleau have stepped down, effective immediately.

Riot also announced that it has engaged investment bank Evercore to explore potential AI and HPC applications for its power assets at the Corsicana Facility in Navarro County, Texas. Northland Capital Markets will assist in the evaluation process.

Last month, Riot paused a 600-megawatt hashrate expansion at its Corsicana site, reserving that capacity for possible AI and HPC diversification. Since launching its evaluation process, the company has reportedly seen increasing interest from potential partners.