When Salman Khan arrived in Dubai from the U.S. in the early 2000s, he was already a seasoned auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers, ready to narrow his focus to the oil and gas industry. If someone had told him then that he would one day be the CFO of the world’s largest bitcoin-mining company, he may have replied, “What mining company?” At the time, digital assets were a distant concept, and his world revolved around the complexities of oil reserves, regulations, and international finance.
Read MeIn Dubai, Khan honed his skills by navigating the intricacies of the oil and gas sector, gaining a deep understanding of commodity risk, capital-intensive operations, and global markets. This experience laid a strong foundation for his future role at Marathon Digital Holdings. Just as oil extraction requires careful management of a finite resource, Bitcoin-mining also demands a strategic approach to harnessing the limited supply of energy needed to generate digital currency.
Returning to the U.S., Khan joined Occidental Petroleum, where he quickly climbed the finance career ladder. At Occidental, he took on diverse roles, including leading the spin-off of California Resources Corporation, a transformative experience that further prepared him for Marathon. There, he managed large-scale M&A transactions, scaled a business unit from $5 million to $5 billion in revenues, and navigated complex operational challenges. This period was crucial in shaping his ability to manage high-stakes, resource-intensive environments.
Khan’s time at Occidental taught him to think strategically, manage risks effectively, and lead large-scale initiatives—skills directly transferable to the fast-paced world of Bitcoin mining. Today, as CFO of Marathon Digital Holdings, he believes that his journey from auditing oil fields to managing Bitcoin miners reflects a seamless transition of expertise, making him uniquely qualified to lead Marathon through its rapid expansion and ongoing success.
“Think strategically but be prepared to dive into details. Anticipate senior leadership’s needs to be a proactive problem-solver. While data is crucial, decisions often come from limited information. Make swift decisions and stand by them. Learn from mistakes and seize every opportunity to live fully!” –Salman Khan, CFO, Marathon Digital Holdings
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CFOTL: Tell us about Marathon Holdings … what does this company do, and what sets it apart today?
Khan: Marathon is the world’s largest Bitcoin-mining company—it’s publicly traded and the largest in the pack, so to speak. To be sure, there are a handful of other public companies out there that are focused in this area. We are truly a global company, with operations in multiple areas, including the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, South America, and the U.S. We continue to expand. We’ve grown tremendously over the past few years and continue to deploy capital to grow responsibly from here on as well.
Read MeOf course, there has been a lot of tailwind in this industry. A short time ago, I had the opportunity to advocate for it in political circles, as well as to meet with former president Donald Trump, who has since adopted key components of our concerns and recommendations into his campaign agenda. There are now more than 40 million Americans who own cryptocurrencies—many or most of them with Bitcoin, specifically. Most of these are between the ages of 25 and 45, making them prime voting targets for any presidential candidate. Since then, two other presidential candidates have come forth to provide their policies around Bitcoin and holding Bitcoin as a Strategic Reserve asset like oil or a “hard” asset like gold.
As an asset, Bitcoin is very unique, in the sense that it’s highly accretive. It has accreted over recent years at a rate not even comparable to that of other asset classes. It’s expected to improve even further from here, primarily because of the limited capacity that’s available for it forever, period.
I come from the oil and gas industry. You have to think that our petroleum resources are limited out there, but every few years, you have ExxonMobil or Chevron or Saudi Aramco going out and making huge discoveries of oil or natural gas. In the case of Bitcoin, you can’t make such discoveries. The Bitcoin digital asset is limited by its own protocol, and nobody can change the way in which it has been designed. While it will be possible to mine 21 million coins over the life of the asset, about 19.5 million have already been mined—so, the race is on for the remainder. This is why you’re seeing people like BlackRock, Fidelity, and others really buying into this space. As I say, there’s a huge amount of tailwind in this sector, which is expected to drive significant growth.
jb
Marathon Digital Holdings | www.mara.com | Las Vegas, NV