Starboard Urges Riot to Speed Up Shift to Data Centers (1)

Activist investor Starboard Value is asking Riot Platforms Inc. to speed up its transition from Bitcoin miner to a data center company that could house hyperscaler tenants.

Starboard, which helped appoint directors to Riot’s board last year, made its views known in a public letter signed by Peter Feld, Starboard’s managing member that confirmed an earlier Bloomberg News report.

Shares of Riot climbed 8.8% to $15.94 at 12:23 p.m. in New York trading Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $6.5 billion.

Riot is among the largest public Bitcoin mining companies in the US, operating some of ...