Dive Brief:
- Fermi America CEO Toby Neugebauer and CFO Miles Everson have stepped down from their respective C-suite roles, though both will serve on the board, according to a Monday press release and a securities filing. The power infrastructure company was co-founded by Neugebauer and Rick Perry, a former Texas governor who served as U.S. Secretary of Energy from 2017 to 2019.
- Neugebauer remains a member of the board and Everson, who resigned as CFO, has been elected as a board director as a result of director designation rights exercised by the Melissa A. Neugebauer 2020 Trust, according to the release. Everson’s resignation was effective Sunday and he is no longer employed by the company or any subsidiaries, the filing states.
- The company’s new leadership structure is now in flux. Fermi said it is “in negotiations” with a candidate who will serve as an interim CFO and expects an announcement in the coming week. Meanwhile, a newly created “Office of the CEO” composed of Jacobo Ortiz Blanes, previously COO, and Anna Bofa, previously a board advisor, has been established that will act as the company’s co-president and take on Neugebauer’s previous responsibilities.
Dive Insight:
Shares of the Texas-based company, which also said it is establishing its corporate headquarters in Dallas, slumped about 18% to close at $5.40 Monday. The company positioned the leadership shakeup as a kind of “strategic evolution” that it dubbed “Fermi 2.0” as it moves from a start-up to a bigger enterprise.
"Fermi is evolving from an entrepreneurial start-up culture into a public-company-caliber professional enterprise. Establishing an official presence in Dallas (within a premier office park location to be announced) and Amarillo represents an important step in that evolution. Our new offices will serve as a platform for deeper collaboration with partners and will enhance our ability to serve our clients and tenants," Ortiz Blanes said in a statement in the release.
Fermi is developing private electric grids to deliver power at the scale needed for AI. Its Project Matador campus in Amorillo, Texas, “includes the most ambitious build-out of legacy nuclear reactors in half a century,” Politico reported.
Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro in a note to clients said the surprising departure of the CEO was concerning for investors, but noted that the company signaled that there was “friction between customers and the outgoing CEO” and that the departure could pave the way for smoother negotiations in the future, MarketWatch reported.
