Now, Riot Platforms (RIOT +5.70%) – a company that digs for digital dust called Bitcoin – saw its shares bob a bit higher yesterday, almost 6%. But here’s the peculiar thing: it wasn’t the price of the dust itself causing the flutter. Oh no. It was a rather grumpy, high-profile shareholder poking things with a stick.
The Lagging Lout
Before the market even yawned and stretched, this shareholder – a fellow named Starboard Value, who sounds suspiciously like a pirate – dispatched a missive to Riot’s boss, Jason Les, and the chap who chairs the board, Benjamin Yi. A most stern letter, it was, intended to give these gentlemen a jolly good nudge towards… well, towards actually doing the things they said they were going to do.
You see, like a gaggle of other Bitcoin burrowers, Riot is attempting to turn its dusty digs into a playground for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and High-Performance Computing (HPC) – fancy names for machines that think very quickly and make a lot of whirring noises. It’s like trying to build a castle out of sand, really.
Starboard, bless his greedy little heart, did offer a few crumbs of compliment to Les and Yi, acknowledging their feeble efforts. But then came the sting – a pointed reminder that Riot’s share price is trailing behind other miners who’ve jumped on this AI/HPC bandwagon. A most unseemly sight, that.
The letter, I’m told, went on to say that while this underperformance is “frustrating” (imagine!), Riot is “better positioned” to strike deals. “Time is of the essence,” it warned, as if these chaps hadn’t noticed the clock ticking. A renewed sense of urgency, it demanded, as if a good scolding would magically conjure up profitable contracts. Honestly, the nerve!
Riot hasn’t deigned to respond publicly to this missive. Probably huddled in a corner, trembling.
A Necessary Prod?
Activist investors aren’t known for their patience, you see. They’re like particularly persistent wasps. So, Starboard’s little maneuver isn’t exactly a surprise. They’re rather good at squeezing the juice out of management teams. I suspect Riot’s leaders will now be scrambling to demonstrate just how hard they’re pushing into these enticing segments. There’s potential, certainly, but whether they can actually capitalize on it is another matter entirely. I’d be cautiously optimistic, which is about as enthusiastic as I get these days. A bit like expecting a decent cup of tea in a motorway service station.
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2026-02-19 03:02