Fermi Ousts Co-Founder And Largest Shareholder From Board
Fermi booted co-founder and former CEO Toby Neugebauer from its board of directors, further shaking up an already rattled executive suite at the struggling data center startup.
The Texas-based REIT said it fired Neugebauer for cause on April 17 and that he had been “automatically removed” from the board in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, but did not elaborate further.
Fermi declined Bisnow's request for comment.
"These actions by the board are completely misguided. I will continue to fight vigorously to maximize value for all shareholders," Neugebauer said in a statement.
Neugebauer left the CEO role at Fermi in April along with the rollout of its Fermi 2.0 campaign that came after the company lost $150M in construction funding for its flagship development, a 17-gigawatt campus spanning 7,500 acres in North Texas called Project Matador, and disclosed that an unnamed tenant pulled out of a plan to help fund its construction.
Fermi, co-founded by Rick Perry, a former Texas governor and U.S. energy secretary, went public in a high-profile initial public offering in October. Perry is still a director at the REIT, which saw shares soar on the IPO and raised $683M.
It was the only real estate firm to go public in 2025, and by January, the REIT's shares had fallen by more than 70% as questions about its only development weighed on shares along with concerns about broader over-investment in artificial intelligence that are bouncing around the marketplace.
Shares in the REIT were trading up more than 2% early Friday, but the stock is down roughly 40% year-to-date. Its share price of around $5.25 is far off from its 52-week high of $36.99.
Neugebauer, who previously said he was removed as CEO without cause, is also the firm's largest shareholder and has become something of a critic of its management. He publicly called on them last month to begin the process of selling the company to maximize shareholder value. Fermi's board roundly rejected the idea.
Fermi separately announced Thursday that it had appointed Rob Masson II as interim chief financial officer to temporarily replace Miles Everson, who stepped down two days after Neugebauer left as CEO.
The REIT is facing a class-action lawsuit from investors who claim it overstated the level of interest from tenants in its new development and broader questions about its future as it struggles to balance its books.
Management disclosed during the firm’s first-quarter earnings call in March that it was considering selling gas turbines it secured with help from the Trump administration to "preserve liquidity” and meet obligations to lenders. Soaring energy demand from data centers has created a development bottleneck as operators struggle to secure power, making those turbines all the more valuable.
Meanwhile, Equinix, one of the top data center REITs, reported at the end of April that it just closed its largest quarter of leasing activity in company history. The firm boosted revenue 10% year-over-year to $2.3B and lifted its full-year revenue guidance by $21M.
UPDATE, MAY 1, 3:30 P.M. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Toby Neugebauer.
