Data Center REIT Fermi Searching For New CEO, Opening Dallas HQ
Nascent data center developer Fermi America announced plans for a “new chapter” after executive departures dealt the company its second major blow since December.
On Friday, Toby Neugebauer left his role as CEO of the REIT he co-founded with former Texas Gov. and U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. The company plans to develop a data center megacampus with four nuclear reactors to deliver up to 17 gigawatts of power near Amarillo, Texas.
Fermi shares dropped 31% in postmarket trading following Neugebauer’s move. Less than 48 hours later, Chief Financial Officer Miles Everson also departed, according to a report from banking intelligence platform AtriumData.ai.
Neugebauer, co-managing partner of Quantum Energy, remains a member of the board, Fermi announced Monday. The firm created an office of the CEO, including former Chief Operating Officer Jacobo Ortiz Blanes and board adviser Anna Bofa, to act as interim leadership.
The company will also establish a new corporate headquarters in Dallas in a to-be-announced premier office park and build out its corporate office presence at its project site in Amarillo, Fermi announced, while doubling down on its development efforts.
These moves follow a $150M loss of construction funding for Fermi’s flagship project, Project Matador. An unnamed potential tenant pulled out of a deal to help fund the construction, though it is still pursuing a potential lease at the project, the company revealed in December. Stocks plunged 30% following that Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Fermi went public in early October and immediately raised $682M after its January 2025 launch. The REIT plans to develop a nearly 6,000-acre data center and power generation campus. Project Matador could become the world’s largest hybrid energy-and-data infrastructure campus.
In the Monday announcement, Fermi said that its “Fermi 2.0” strategic plan is a comprehensive progression of the company’s direction, governance structure and operating platform that will help it move at “FermiSpeed” toward its nuclear build-out.
Texas Tech University System, which initially granted Fermi a 99-year lease on the Carson County property, is “engaged in good-faith discussions” to extend lease agreement milestones, TTUS Chancellor Brandon Creighton said in a statement.
“Project Matador has the potential to deliver generational impact — not just for TTUS, but for national security, American energy independence, and the future of advanced research and industry in West Texas,” Creighton said in the statement. “TTUS remains firmly committed to our partnership with Fermi America and to the long-term opportunity this project represents for our region, our state, and the nation.”
Fermi also announced Marius Haas, a founding partner of private equity firm BayPine, is its new chairman of the board. A committee that includes Haas and executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles will work to find CEO candidates.
The company also plans to announce an interim CFO this week. In an SEC filing, Fermi said Everson’s resignation was without “Good Reason.”
Fermi has a Macquarie Equipment Finance term loan with a 49% effective interest rate, requiring an approximate $149M repayment in August, the Atrium Data Research team reported. Any refinancing or exit path requires a permanent CEO and CFO to execute, according to the report.
