John Freeman, Group PresidentSelected as Next CEO; Two Industry Veterans to Join Board
SINGAPORE, Feb. 24, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital Edge (Singapore) Holdings Pte Ltd. ("Digital Edge"), a leading developer and operator of interconnection and hyperscale edge data centers across Asia and portfolio company of Stonepeak, today announced that Group President John Freeman will succeed Samuel Lee as Chief Executive Officer, effective as of the second quarter of 2025. In conjunction, Samuel will transition to the role of Senior Advisor to the Board. Digital Edge also announced that industry veterans Maile Kaiser and Eanna Murphy will join the Board as non-executive directors.
John Freeman, Newly Appointed CEO
John is an experienced leader with more than two and half decades in the data center and TMT industry, leading global teams across Asia, the Americas, Europe and MEA. He is a founding executive of Digital Edge, serving on the company's Board since its inception, and was previously Chief Legal & Compliance Officer before becoming Group President in 2024.
The Board's two new non-executive directors, Maile Kaiser and Eanna Murphy, also have long-standing data center expertise. Maile is currently Chief Revenue Officer at CoreSite, having joined in 2012, and previously held roles at IO Data Centers, AboveNet, and Oracle. Eanna is a Senior Operating Partner at Stonepeak and was previously Chief Operating Officer of Yondr, where he founded Yondr's platform in the Americas region, and previously spent more than ten years in senior roles on Google's data center team. Their addition, paired with John's appointment to CEO, further reinforces Digital Edge's commitment to excellence in leadership and innovation, positioning the company for continued growth in the rapidly evolving digital infrastructure landscape.
Commenting on his appointment, John said, "I am honored to step into the role of CEO, and excited about the opportunity to continue working alongside our partners and the incredibly talented team at Digital Edge to provide timely and diverse AI- and cloud-ready data centers and connectivity solutions to our customers."
Samuel Lee stated, "As I transition to the role of Senior Advisor, I do so with immense pride in what we have built and with great confidence in the future of Digital Edge. I am sincerely grateful for the support of our employees, customers, and partners throughout my tenure at Digital Edge. John is a visionary leader with a passion for the team, our customers, and the communities we serve, and I look forward to the company's continued success under his leadership".
Andrew Thomas, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak and Chairman of the Board of Digital Edge, commented, "We are very thankful for Samuel's stewardship over the past five years as the business has scaled, and are excited for John to lead the business into its next phase of growth. We are also thrilled to welcome Maile and Eanna to the Board, each of whom brings world-class industry expertise to the business as we continue to expand."
Digital Edge recently secured more than $1.6 billion in new capital through a combination of equity and debt financing to fuel its next phase of growth. The growth capital will enable the company to accelerate its expansion and address the increasing and nuanced cloud and AI demands from customers across the region. Founded in early 2020, Digital Edge currently owns and operates 21 data centers, delivering over 500MW of critical IT load in service and under construction across Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The company also holds an additional 300MW reserved for future development in strategic locations.
About Digital Edge
Headquartered in Singapore, Digital Edge is a trusted and forward-looking data center platform company, established to transform digital infrastructure in Asia. Through building and operating state-of-the-art, energy-efficient data centers rich with connectivity options, Digital Edge aims to bring new colocation and interconnect options to the Asian market, making infrastructure deployment in the region easy, efficient and economical.
Backed by leading alternative investment firm Stonepeak, Digital Edge has established itself as a market-leading pan-Asia data center platform. The company provides data center and fiber services across Asia, with a presence in Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. You can visit the company's website at www.digitaledgedc.com.
About Stonepeak
Stonepeak is a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $72 billion of assets under management. Through its investment in defensive, hard-asset businesses globally, Stonepeak aims to create value for its investors and portfolio companies, with a focus on downside protection and strong risk-adjusted returns. Stonepeak, as sponsor of private equity and credit investment vehicles, provides capital, operational support, and committed partnership to grow investments in its target sectors, which include digital infrastructure, energy and energy transition, transport and logistics, and real estate. Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Houston, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Abu Dhabi. For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com.
