AUSTIN, Texas–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: CORZ), a leader in digital infrastructure for high-performance computing (HPC), today announced that Jim Nygaard will succeed Denise Sterling as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective March 17, 2025. This appointment follows the Company’s previously announced CFO transition plan.
Mr. Nygaard brings nearly 30 years of investment banking expertise, including extensive M&A, corporate finance, and capital-raising experience. Since 2008, he has served as Managing Director and Head of M&A at XMS Capital Partners, LLC (“XMS Capital”), advising clients across multiple industries on strategic transactions and financing initiatives. Prior to joining XMS Capital, Mr. Nygaard spent more than a decade at Morgan Stanley advising clients on complex deals and growth strategies.
“We are excited to welcome Jim to the Core Scientific leadership team,” said Adam Sullivan, Chief Executive Officer of Core Scientific. “As a premier digital infrastructure provider for high-performance computing, we believe Jim’s deep background in corporate finance and M&A will help us continue scaling our operations. His proven ability to drive growth and shareholder value will be an invaluable asset during this pivotal stage of our evolution.”
Ms. Sterling was promoted to CFO shortly before the Company filed for Chapter 11, playing a critical role in stabilizing and repositioning Core Scientific. She guided the organization through its successful restructuring and emergence from Chapter 11, leaving Core Scientific well-positioned for continued growth. She also helped raise more than $1 billion through two convertible note transactions, significantly strengthening the Company’s capital structure.
“Denise took the helm of our Finance organization at a critical time and performed exceptionally,” continued Sullivan. “Her leadership was instrumental in helping us navigate a complex restructuring and secure the capital needed to execute our long-term vision. We are grateful for her numerous contributions, including building an outstanding Finance team and overseeing transformative financings that fortified our balance sheet. Denise will remain with us until May 1st to ensure a seamless transition, and we wish her the very best in her future endeavors.”
About Jim Nygaard
James P. Nygaard, Jr., age 50, brings nearly 30 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience to Core Scientific. Since 2008, he has served as a Managing Director at XMS Capital Partners, LLC, leading M&A execution activities, strategic financings, and chairing the firm’s Fairness Committee. From 2021 to 2022, Mr. Nygaard served as Chief Financial Officer of Power & Digital Infrastructure Acquisition Corp. (XPDI), which merged with Core Scientific. Prior to XMS Capital, Mr. Nygaard spent 12 years in Morgan Stanley’s Investment Banking Division, advising a diverse group of clients across a variety of industries. His career deal experience includes over $100 billion of strategic transactions and financings. A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, he was valedictorian of his department and received Bronze Tablet Honors, the university’s highest academic distinction.
About Core Scientific
Core Scientific is a leader in digital infrastructure for high-performance computing. The company operates dedicated, purpose-built facilities and is a premier provider of digital infrastructure, software solutions and services to our third-party customers. We employ our own large fleet of computers (“miners”) to earn digital assets for our own account and to provide hosting services for large bitcoin mining customers and we are in the process of allocating and converting a significant portion of our nine operational data centers in Alabama (1), Georgia (2), Kentucky (1), North Carolina (1), North Dakota (1) and Texas (3), and our facility in development in Oklahoma to support artificial intelligence-related workloads under a series of contracts that entail the modification of certain of our data centers to deliver hosting services for high-performance computing (“HPC”). To learn more, visit www.corescientific.com.
