Jason Les
Chief Executive Officer
Jason is the driving force behind the Company’s mission to become one of the most relevant and significant companies supporting the Bitcoin network. He has been deeply involved with Bitcoin since 2013, with significant experience in cryptocurrency mining, and as an engineer studying protocol development, and contributing to open-source projects.
Jason was also a founding partner of Binary Digital, a software-development company where he led the engineering team and coordinated project development for artificial intelligence, reverse engineering, and inter-software compatibility projects.
Additionally, Jason’s background includes over a decade of unique experience as a former professional heads-up poker player during which he has successfully competed in high-stakes games online, in addition to the most prestigious, high-stakes tournaments in the world. In 2015 and 2017, he was selected as a human benchmark for testing the world’s best poker artificial intelligence in what was dubbed “Man vs Machine” at Carnegie Mellon University in 2015 and 2017.
Jason holds a Bachelor of Science in Information & Computer Science from UC Irvine.
Colin Yee
Chief Financial Officer
Colin joined Riot in April 2022 as Head of Corporate and Financial Operations. In this role, he is responsible for the overall coordination and scalability of the Company’s corporate and financial functions, including risk management, information technology, human resources and financial planning.
Colin is an experienced business partner and team builder, having successfully grown businesses by working collaboratively to implement key processes, reporting tools and internal controls. Specifically, he has successfully installed company-wide ERP systems, improved workflows, team communications, driven transformational changes and strategy deployment.
Prior to joining Riot, Colin was the CFO of a publicly traded real estate company in Canada, the CFO of a large private equity firm specializing in renewable energy and infrastructure and most recently, the COO/CFO of a family office with controlling interests in companies focused on construction and geothermal systems.
Colin is a Chartered Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Cellular Biology and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Accounting, both from the University of Calgary. He also sits on the board of directors of a large not-for-profit organization focusing on social change and innovation.
William Jackman
Executive Vice President, General Counsel
William Jackman is the General Counsel of Riot and manages the Company’s legal affairs. As General Counsel, William draws upon his unique business and legal acumen to support the Riot leadership team navigate strategic decisions by developing innovative solutions.
William has represented Riot since September 2018 as external counsel, prior to joining the management team in July 2021. Previously, William represented S&P 500 companies as well as other public companies in the areas of securities laws, mergers and acquisitions, and power generation. Additionally, he is a former member of several distinguished law firms including, a global AM100 law firm, and one the largest global law firms in Canada. In 2014, he served a secondment at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in the Corporate Finance division.
William holds dual juris doctorate law degrees from the Universities of Windsor and Detroit, as well as an MBA from Nova Southeastern, specializing in business finance, where he graduated among the top of his classes in each degree. William is a member of the New York, Florida and Ontario Bar Associations.
Jeffrey G. McGonegal
Senior Advisor
Jeff is the longest-standing member of Riot’s executive team and resumed his duties as the Company’s permanent CFO in February 2021. During 2019 and 2020 he had served as Riot’s CEO.
Jeff brings decades of experience and steadfast leadership to the Company, both critical characteristics in emerging industries such as Riot’s. In addition, he brings extensive hands-on experience in working with growing companies, achieving enhanced value for shareholders. His career has spanned over forty years in senior leadership roles working as an audit partner with a national accounting firm, in addition to roles as an executive within multiple public entities. He has in-depth expertise in matters pertaining to mergers and acquisitions, as well as SEC public reporting compliance, private offerings, IPOs, secondary offerings, and exploring and analyzing financing alternatives.
Jeff started his public accounting career with BDO USA, LLP. From 1974 to 1997, he was an accountant with BDO USA, LLP, most recently serving as Managing Partner of the BDO office in Denver, Colorado. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Florida State University and became a Certified Public Accountant in 1975, now retired.
Jason Chung
Head of Corporate Development and Strategy
Jason serves as Riot’s Head of Corporate Development & Strategy and is responsible for overall coordination of Riot’s corporate development, capital markets and investor relations-related efforts.
Jason brings a wealth of experience in corporate finance and joined Riot following a nearly two-decade long career in investment banking, ultimately as Managing Director, M&A with Nomura where he advised global clients on cross-border transactions primarily in the technology sector and involving targets in the US, Canada, Germany, Japan, Korea, France, and Singapore. Over the course of his investment banking career, Jason has advised on nearly $20 billion in M&A transactions, built and grown advisory teams, and has lived and worked in both New York and Hong Kong.
Jason is a CFA charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Toronto.
Ryan Werner
Senior Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer
Ryan joined Riot in March 2021, after spending the past eight years as Senior Director of Real Estate & Transactions Accounting at UDR Inc. (NYSE: UDR), a member of the S&P 500 and a multifamily real estate investment trust (REIT). Prior to UDR, Ryan was Director of External Reporting & Debt Accounting at Archstone, another multifamily REIT. Ryan started his career in Ernst & Young’s audit practice, primarily specializing in publicly traded companies. Ryan’s significant public accounting experience bolsters Riot’s already highly experienced finance team. Ryan is a Certified Public Accountant and holds a Master of Accounting & Information Systems degree and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Business Administration degree, both from the University of Kansas.
Ghazaleh Barman
VP of Financial Planning & Analysis
Ghazaleh serves as Riot’s VP of Financial Planning & Analysis and is works closely with operations and leadership on strategy and analytics.
In 2021 Ghazaleh left her career with a global leader in Life Sciences and Fortune 100 company to pursue her passion for Bitcoin. In her previous role she managed $1billion logistics and distribution annually, working with operations across 10 countries.
In her previous experience, Ghazaleh worked for two low-cost airlines, and led the cost transformation at Frontier Airlines which allowed for acquisition by private equity. Subsequently she joined Brightline, a multi-billion-dollar startup in Miami, FL developing passenger trains and mixed-use train stations throughout South Florida.
Phil McPherson
Vice President, Capital Markets
Phil joined Riot in March 2021, after spending the past eight years as CFO of Citadel Exploration Inc. Prior to Citadel, Phil spent fifteen years on the sell side of the capital markets, predominantly in an equity research capacity, focused on the energy sector. Phil also currently serves on the Board of Directors of Barnwell Industries (NYSE: BRN) as a member of its Audit committee and Chairman of its Reserve Committee. Phil brings a wealth of knowledge and more than two decades experience in the public markets to Riot, and will lead the Company’s investor relations initiatives, in addition to supporting Riot’s other capital markets-related initiatives. Phil received his Bachelor of Science in Economics from East Carolina University.
Lyle Theriot
Head of Construction
Lyle Theriot has served as the COO of Whinstone since 2018 and brings his vast knowledge of construction operations to the Riot leadership team. As one of the founders of Whinstone, Lyle leveraged his transformational operating skills in quickly building Whinstone into North America’s most significant Bitcoin hosting facility in just a few short years.
Lyle shared success within Whinstone has been his ability to design and build quickly & provide custom design and adapting this to the unique nature of the new and ever-changing Bitcoin industry. For his efforts as COO of Whinstone, Lyle was awarded the 2020 Texas Economic Development Council - Community Economic Development Award for Secondary Benefit for the Whinstone Data Center Project.
Starting his career in construction management focusing on communication and team building, Lyle gained the needed skills to effectively solve complex construction problems and build with speed and efficiency. As a mentor and leader of talent, Lyle leverages his relationship and coaching skills to develop effective, high-performing staff members.
Ashton Harris
Head of Technical Operations
Ashton Harris has served as the CTO of Whinstone since 2021, previously serving as CIO since its inception in 2018, and brings deep technical knowledge to the Riot leadership team. Ashton leverages his technical knowledge and his business acumen in creating an effective enterprise technology strategy. Ashton's strategy focuses on providing scalable solutions for the facility’s technical design and software. This has been essential to the growth of Whinstone in becoming the leading Bitcoin hosting facility, in North America.
Ashton came across Bitcoin in 2011, and was enamored by the idea of a distributed, internet native, electronic cash. This passion led him to forgo his post-secondary career during his freshman year in college and choose a different path, to build his first mining farm. His early knowledge in mining farms, Bitcoin, and the emerging technology in the industry has made a solid foundation to help pioneer the future infrastructure of Bitcoin hosting technology.
As one of the founders of Whinstone, Ashton helped to build the firm with his colleagues Chad Harris and Lyle Theriot.
David Schatz
Senior Vice President of Operations
David Schatz is the Senior Vice President of Operations. In this capacity, he manages over 100 employees and has implemented safety programs, performance incentives, CPR training, and benefits for all Whinstone team members. David's hard work led him to be promoted into his director role in early 2021.
His ability to manage and lead team members comes from years of working side by side to better manage work efficiencies. David’s leadership skills were shaped from his previous role at TriMet where; in a career spanning eight years, he mastered the art of leadership and mentoring staff. With a passion for process improvements, David has used this skill to identify gaps in business and successfully implement process improvements to improve operational deficiencies.
David also has in-depth technical training from Mt. Hood Community College and Portland Community College, where he gained a tremendous mechanical foundation. His training has allowed David to tackle challenging technical issues and mentor his large staff to solve the most complex problems.