MARA Holdings announced on Aug. 4, 2026, that it had appointed Craig Hart and Nancy Novak as independent directors to its board, effective Aug. 1, 20261. Barbara Humpton and Georges Antoun had left the board the day before, on July 31, as part of a planned transition, the company's release said.
29 board appointments on the record in 2026, the most of any year
Board appointments CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2026: 29
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 3 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 4 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2026 | 29 |
Trading Venues & Brokerage led board appointments in 2026, with four
Board appointments CryptoLately has verified in 2026, by the sector of the company
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 4 |
| Bitcoin & Mining | 4 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 3 |
| Capital Markets & Treasury | 2 |
The appointments
MARA's release tied the new directors to its stated strategy. The strategy links energy and computing. Fred Thiel, MARA's chairman and CEO, named the business reason in the announcement. “MARA is executing a strategy that brings together energy, digital infrastructure and compute,” Thiel said. “Craig's extensive experience across power markets, energy investment and infrastructure development, together with Nancy's deep expertise in hyperscale data centers, will provide valuable perspectives as we pursue these opportunities.”1 Doug Mellinger, MARA's lead independent director, said the board reviews its own mix of skills. “Craig and Nancy bring highly relevant, complementary capabilities to an already strong Board,” Mellinger said.
Hart currently serves as senior portfolio manager and global co-head of energy and power at Avenue Capital Group. He leads the firm's private power strategy there, MARA's release said1. Hart spent more than 25 years in the energy sector. His roles included chief financial officer of US Power Generating Company, before its sale to Tenaska Capital Management. “Power is becoming one of the most strategic assets in the digital economy, and MARA has assembled a differentiated platform to capitalize on that opportunity,” Hart said.
Novak's record and the board after the change
Novak previously served as chief innovation officer of Compass Datacenters. There, she led large-scale data center development for hyperscale and cloud customers, according to MARA1. Blockchain.News reported that her four-decade career also included senior operational roles at Hensel Phelps and Balfour Beatty. She oversaw more than $3.5 billion in projects at those firms, the outlet wrote2. After the two departures and two arrivals, MARA's board holds seven seats. Six of them are independent, the company's release said.
What to watch
Hart and Novak's hires point MARA toward power markets and data center construction. Watch whether MARA signs power or infrastructure deals that name either director. A second signal: does the company's bitcoin mining business stay the stated base of its strategy, as Thiel described it, or shift weight toward computing.
Sources
- MARA Holdings, Inc., "MARA Appoints Two New Independent Directors to Board," MARA Holdings, Aug. 4, 2026, https://ir.mara.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1426/mara-appoints-two-new-independent-directors-to-board
- Timothy Morano, "MARA (MARA) Adds Energy, Data Center Experts to Board," Blockchain.News, Aug. 4, 2026, https://blockchain.news/news/mara-appoints-hart-novak-independent-directors