Riot Revamps Executive Pay as CFO Transition and Data Center Incentives Take Shape
Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) has appointed Jason Chung as its next CFO and approved higher senior executive compensation alongside a redesigned incentive plan that ties pay to data center development.
According to a press release and a regulatory filing published Thursday, Chung will assume the CFO role on March 1, 2026, succeeding Colin Yee, who has held the position since 2022. Yee will remain in the role until the transition date and then move into a senior advisor position, where he is expected to support continuity across Riot’s finance function through at least early 2028.
Chung currently serves as Riot’s executive vice president and head of corporate development and strategy. In addition to leading the finance organization as CFO, he will continue overseeing corporate development and investor relations. Before joining Riot, Chung spent more than two decades in investment banking, most recently as a managing director in mergers and acquisitions at Nomura, advising on cross-border technology transactions.
Yee’s senior advisor agreement provides for a $500,000 annual base fee for the first year following the transition, followed by a $20,000 monthly fee thereafter, as well as $2 million in restricted stock units vesting through January 2028. Riot said the transition was not related to any dispute over accounting, financial reporting or disclosure matters.
Alongside the leadership change, Riot’s board-approved compensation committee authorized amendments to executive employment agreements that materially increase cash compensation for several senior leaders. Chief executive officer Jason Les and executive chairman Benjamin Yi will see their annual base salaries rise to $900,000 from $600,000, while eliminating the portion of their pay previously denominated in bitcoin. Their target bonus opportunity under the company’s annual incentive plan was also increased to 125% of base salary, up from 100%.
Chung’s base salary will increase to $550,000 as he steps into the CFO role, while chief operating officer Stephen Howell’s salary will rise to $500,000 from $400,000. The amended employment agreements extend through January 2031.
Riot also overhauled its 2026 annual incentive plan to reflect a strategic shift toward data center and digital infrastructure development.
The company removed “Bitcoin Yield” as a performance metric, replacing it—upon securing a data center tenant—with new measures tied to data center revenue and net operating income, each weighted at 15%. The weighting of adjusted EBITDA was reduced, and the discretionary portion of the plan was narrowed to focus specifically on execution of data center strategy, including leasing, financing and power portfolio expansion.
Under the revised plan, executives are eligible for payouts ranging from zero to as much as 200% of target, depending on performance against the new metrics. Riot said the changes are intended to better align executive compensation with its evolving business priorities as it expands beyond bitcoin mining into data center operations.
