Bitcoin Miner IREN Awards Co-CEOs $700M in Stock

Bitcoin mining company IREN has given its two co-CEOs, Daniel Roberts and William Roberts, a huge stock reward worth about $700 million. 

According to the form 8-K filing, this decision was approved by the company’s board on June 30 after a recommendation from its Compensation Committee. The reward is made up of restricted stock units (RSUs), which means the CEOs will not get cash now, but company shares over time.

In total, the package includes 18,198,656 RSUs, split equally between both CEOs, meaning each one received 9,099,328 RSUs. That is about 5% of the company’s total shares at the time of the announcement.

A long-term stock reward plan

The RSU plan is not a quick payout. It is built to last for many years. The shares will be given in four equal parts over six years. But there is a condition.

The CEOs must remain in their jobs for each part to unlock. Even after each part is given to them, they cannot sell it immediately. Each portion also has an extra two-year lock period. This means the shares stay locked even after they are earned. The company says this setup is meant to keep leadership focused on long-term goals instead of short-term gains.

As part of the agreement, IREN also confirmed that both CEOs will not receive any more stock rewards until the 2031 financial year. The company is trying to limit repeated large payouts and keep the structure fixed for a long time. 

How the board made the decision

The board said it carefully studied different pay options before choosing this one. They looked at different ideas like mixed reward plans, performance-based rewards, and different time schedules before agreeing on the final version. 

The goal was to find a balance between keeping the CEOs motivated and protecting shareholder interests.

The approval process also involved an independent compensation consultant working with the Compensation Committee. The board reportedly reviewed different models before choosing the current one, including variations in grant size and vesting design. 

The final decision was made unanimously, showing full board support for the package structure.

Revenue growth and financial losses

IREN’s financial results help explain the timing of the decision. According to the filling, the company reported $184.7 million in revenue for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.

However, it also reported a net loss of $155.4 million during the same period. This means the company is still growing its income but spending and costs are high, leading to losses. Like many Bitcoin mining companies, IREN operates in a very unstable market where earnings can change quickly based on Bitcoin prices and mining difficulty.

Why companies use stock-based pay

In this kind of industry, companies often use stock rewards instead of high cash salaries. This helps save money in the short term while giving leaders a reason to focus on increasing the company’s value over time. 

The RSU structure used here is also designed to reduce quick selling. Since shares are locked for years, it stops executives from cashing out early and encourages them to stay with the company.

Meanwhile IREN is a big name in the Bitcoin mining industry.  In 2025, the company signed several multi-year contracts to provide cloud computing services using NVIDIA’s upcoming Blackwell GPUs.

These deals are expected to generate about $225 million in annualized run-rate revenue. Out of its 23,000 GPUs, about 11,000 were already pre-sold under the agreements at the time. 

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