NEW YORK, Jan 4, 2026, 09:58 ET — Market closed
- Riot Platforms shares closed Friday up 11.8% after a filing detailed a CFO transition and a revamped 2026 incentive plan.
- Incoming CFO Jason Chung is set to take the job on March 1, replacing Colin Yee, who will move to a senior adviser role.
- Executives’ pay metrics now lean more on data-center milestones, including revenue and net operating income, once a tenant is secured.
Riot Platforms shares jumped 11.8% on Friday, the last trading day, after a regulatory filing detailed a chief financial officer transition and changes to executive incentives tied to the company’s push into data-center development. The stock ended at $14.16. 1
The move matters because investors have been watching bitcoin miners for signs they can broaden revenue beyond the coin’s boom-and-bust cycle. Riot’s updated pay scorecard leans harder into data-center metrics that depend on signing a customer to lease capacity.
It also comes as crypto-linked equities continue to trade with bitcoin, which was last around $91,134. Miners often swing more than the token because their cash generation can rise or fall sharply with bitcoin’s price and electricity costs.
The filing said Jason Chung will become CFO on March 1, succeeding Colin Yee, who will shift into a senior adviser role. It added that Yee’s departure was not the result of any dispute over accounting or financial reporting. 2
Riot said Chung, currently executive vice president and head of corporate development and strategy, will take over finance while continuing to oversee corporate development and investor relations. “His extensive experience and solid track record… make him the ideal leader to guide our capital allocation strategy,” CEO Jason Les said. 3
The same filing showed Riot raised Les’ and executive chairman Benjamin Yi’s base salaries to $900,000 from $600,000 and eliminated a bitcoin component that previously paid each executive 10 bitcoin on top of salary. Target awards under the annual incentive plan for both executives were lifted to 125% of base pay, it said. 2
Riot also removed a “Bitcoin Yield” metric from its 2026 incentive plan and said it will add “data center revenue” and “data center NOI” once it secures a data-center tenant. NOI, or net operating income, is a property-style measure of profit after operating costs but before financing and taxes. 2
Riot’s rally tracked broader strength in the space. Marathon Digital gained about 10% on Friday, CleanSpark rose roughly 14%, and Hut 8 added about 11.6%, based on the latest closes.
Technically, Riot remains about 41% below its 52-week high of $23.94, though it has more than doubled from its 52-week low of $6.19. On trend gauges watched by chart-focused traders, the stock is above its 200-day moving average near $12.97 but still below the 50-day around $15.89. 4
Riot is among a group of miners touting large-scale power access as a pathway into hosting high-density computing. That strategy can change how investors value the business, but it hinges on signing customers and converting construction plans into contracted cash flow.
But the stock remains highly exposed to bitcoin’s direction and mining economics. A drop in bitcoin or a jump in network difficulty — a measure of how hard it is to mine new coins — can squeeze margins, while delays in securing a data-center tenant could undercut the company’s diversification narrative.
