It seems Donald Trump’s bid to cash in on the AI data center boom was leaked before it even left port.
Company, Fermi America – “master developer“President Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus” – clearly flailing wildly as it tries to undermine fundamentals like stable revenue and cooling infrastructure. according to To AxiosThe Trump-branded firm has yet to secure even a commercial tenant, which is more or less a Condition To run a data center company in the age of AI boom.
However, that’s not even the half of it. according to a form filed Last week, Fermi America CEO Toby Neugebauer abruptly resigned from his roles with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, handing over responsibilities to the COO and a board member. A few days later, Fermi’s CFO Miles Everson joined him.
talking to Axios The day before the announcement, Neugebauer did not even mention his impending departure – although he did note that things were not going well. In particular, he admitted that he “misunderstood where the supply chain is” when it came to the complex array of cooling equipment used to run data centers (Neugebauer has little experience overseeing computing infrastructure – according to him). LinkedIn ProfileHe has spent the last 28 years working in venture capital.)
“I would accept it as a failure,” Neugebauer said during the interview.
The departing CEO also insisted on liquidating the company and selling it off in parts, a proposal that was rejected by the company’s remaining executives.
“Given the recent changes in leadership … the company firmly believes that a sale is not in the best interests of its continued momentum on Project Matador, its ability to serve potential tenants and long-term value creation for shareholders,” Fermi said in a statement. reported by reuters.
Project Matador is the official name of Fermi’s planned 17-gigawatt data center in Texas, which, as we noted, is pitching massive losses to “potential tenants.” Shareholders are also feeling this pain along with the company. stock price There has been a decline of about 71 percent in the last six months.
Neugebauer was probably right to panic: In 2025, Fermi reveals a full year of losses approximately $500 millionNo share of incoming revenue. If there was ever a time to cut your losses, this seems like it.
All told, this could be a canary in the coal mine for the data center industry. If the President of the United States can’t turn on his favorite data center, what does that say for everyone else?
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