Data centre developer and operator Digital Edge has announced a leadership transition set for the second quarter of 2025.

Group President John Freeman will take the helm as CEO, succeeding Samuel Lee, who will assume the role of Senior Advisor to the Board.

Alongside this change, the company also aims to strengthen its governance with the appointment of Maile Kaiser and Eanna Murphy as non-executive directors.

‘A visionary leader with passion’

As a founding executive and board member since the inception of Digital Edge, Freeman has played a pivotal role in shaping the company’s strategy.

With over 25 years in the data centre and TMT sector, Freeman’s global experience spans Asia, the Americas, Europe, and MEA.

Having previously served as Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, he stepped into the Group President role in 2024.

Freeman expressed his enthusiasm for the appointment, stating: “I am honoured 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.”

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Lee, meanwhile, reflected on his tenure and shared his confidence in Freeman’s leadership.

“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,” Lee said.

“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.”

Welcoming industry heavyweights

Digital Edge said it is also bolstering its leadership bench with the appointment of Kaiser and Murphy, two executives with deep expertise in the data centre sector.

Kaiser is currently chief revenue officer at CoreSite, a role she took on after joining the company in 2012. She has also held key positions at IO Data Centers, AboveNet, and Oracle, bringing extensive sales and strategy experience to the table.

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Murphy is a senior operating partner at Stonepeak and previously served as chief operating officer of Yondr, where he spearheaded the firm’s expansion in the Americas. He also spent over a decade at Google, leading key initiatives within the tech giant’s data centre team.

Andrew Thomas, senior managing director at Stonepeak and chairman of the board at Digital Edge, welcomed the leadership changes.

“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,” Thomas said. “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.”

Fuelling expansion with fresh capital

Digital Edge is gearing up for its next phase of growth, backed by a substantial capital injection from a mix of equity and debt financing.

This funding is expected to accelerate expansion and enable the company to meet growing cloud and AI demands across the region.

Since launching in early 2020, Digital Edge has built its presence in Asia, currently operating 21 data centres across Japan, Korea, India, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Headquartered in Singapore, Digital Edge is on a mission to redefine digital infrastructure in Asia by investing in state-of-the-art, energy-efficient data centres.

Backed by alternative investment firm Stonepeak, Digital Edge said it is the pan-Asia leader in data centre and fibre services.