Crusoe, the AI factory company, announced it has appointed three new independent directors to its board: Thomas Seifert, Chief Financial Officer of Cloudflare; Bill Stein, Executive Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of Primary Digital Infrastructure and former CEO of Digital Realty Trust; and JB Straubel, Founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, Co-Founder and former CTO of Tesla. Together, they bring firsthand experience scaling energy systems, global data center networks, and high-growth technology companies.
Crusoe appoints three new independent directors to its board
Thomas Seifert, CFO of Cloudflare
Bill Stein, former CEO of Digital Realty Trust
JB Straubel, Founder and CEO of Redwood Materials and Tesla Co-Founder
Crusoe is the first vertically-integrated AI infrastructure platform
New board members bring expertise in energy, data centers, and capital markets
"The world's most demanding AI builders need infrastructure that can match their pace – gigawatt-scale AI factories, purpose-built cloud, and the energy foundation to power it all," said Chase Lochmiller, CEO and Co-founder of Crusoe. "JB, Bill, and Thomas each bring a rare combination of vision, operational depth, and domain expertise that will be invaluable as we scale Crusoe to meet the market demand. Between Tesla and Redwood Materials, JB has spent his career solving the hard problems of energy systems at scale – exactly the perspective we want shaping our energy approach. Bill has built and operated one of the world's most important digital infrastructure businesses. And Thomas's financial leadership has guided some of the most consequential cloud and technology companies through periods of rapid scale."
Thomas Seifert is the Chief Financial Officer of Cloudflare, where he has led finance since 2017 and guided the company through its 2019 IPO and subsequent growth into a global infrastructure leader. Prior to Cloudflare, Seifert served as CFO of Symantec and as CFO, and briefly interim CEO, of Advanced Micro Devices. He also served as CFO of Brightstar.
"Crusoe is solving a critical, structural challenge for the technology industry by pairing the demand for AI compute with innovative energy solutions. The strongest enterprise value isn't built on growth alone – it's built on operational advantage. Crusoe's integrated model is highly differentiated and the company's execution is very strong." – Thomas Seifert
Seifert will serve as the Chair of Crusoe's Audit Committee.
As Partner and CIO at Primary Digital Infrastructure, Bill is responsible for developing the firm's overall investment strategy and managing key relationships across the sector. Prior to co-founding Primary Digital, Bill served as CEO of Digital Realty Trust from 2014 to 2022. Bill co-founded Digital Realty Trust and served as Chief Investment Officer from 2004 to 2014. During his tenure, he oversaw an increase in the firm's market capitalization from $700 million to $50 billion.
"I've spent my career financing, operating, and growing digital infrastructure at global scale, and the companies that create lasting value are the ones that recognize early that control of the entire value chain matters. Crusoe has built that position – owning energy, data center, manufacturing, and cloud at a defining moment for AI." – Bill Stein
JB Straubel is the Founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, a critical materials and energy storage company focused on lithium-ion battery recycling and large-scale energy storage integration. He co-founded Tesla and previously served as its Chief Technology Officer from 2005 to 2019. Straubel currently serves on the boards of Tesla and QuantumScape.
Crusoe and Redwood Materials share a deep strategic partnership. Crusoe Spark modular data centers run on Redwood Materials' behind-the-meter microgrid of solar and repurposed EV batteries, validating Crusoe's model of building purpose-built AI infrastructure at the source of innovative energy.
"Grid demand is growing faster than infrastructure can keep up, and that bottleneck is real for AI. The right answer is to stop waiting for capacity that won't arrive in time and build energy systems at the point of use, from sources that are already there. Building energy solutions for the future of AI is one of the most impactful areas of work of our time." – JB Straubel
About Crusoe
As the AI factory company, Crusoe is on a mission to accelerate the abundance of energy and intelligence. The company provides a reliable, scalable, cost-effective, energy-first solution for AI infrastructure. By harnessing large-scale energy sources, building AI-optimized data centers, and delivering a powerful AI cloud platform, Crusoe empowers its customers and partners to build the future faster.
