Amarillo, Texas – At Fermi’s annual meeting on Friday, shareholders voted to remove former Governor Rick Perry from the company’s board of directors. Perry, who helped launch the massive power‑and‑data‑center venture after being approached by co‑founder Toby Neugebauer, failed to secure enough votes to retain his seat.
Background on Fermi and its challenges
Fermi aims to become the nation’s largest integrated data‑center and power‑generation campus. The company went public within six months of its formation and quickly attracted industry hype. However, its early years have been rocky, with a steep decline in stock value—down more than 90% from its peak—and difficulty securing a flagship tenant.
The project, known as Project Matador, plans to lease roughly 5,000 acres from the Texas Tech University System in Amarillo. It will generate its own electricity through a mix of natural gas, nuclear, solar and battery storage, including a pending application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a large light‑water reactor—the first such request since the late 2000s.
Board vote and shareholder dynamics
According to the meeting transcript obtained by The Texas Tribune, Perry’s reelection was considered alongside director Jeffrey S. Stein. Both proposals to extend their terms to the 2029 annual meeting were rejected. The vote tally was not disclosed, but the company’s inspector of election will file the results with the Securities and Exchange Commission within four business days.
Neugebauer, who also faced removal as CEO earlier this year for alleged public outbursts, told the Tribune that Perry did not campaign to keep his seat. He added that the board’s decision reflected broader concerns about the company’s strategic direction, including a disagreement over a proposed sale that Neugebauer believes would have better served shareholders.
Ownership stakes and financial impact
Perry’s son, Griffin Perry, holds about 60 million shares through Caddis Holdings LP—just under 10% of the company. Rick Perry himself retains fewer than 5% of the shares, roughly 16 million, valued at about $41 million at current market prices, a sharp decline from a peak valuation of roughly half a billion dollars last fall.
Fermi announced its first tenant in August, a smaller AI cloud‑computing startup called TensorWave, after a tentative deal with Amazon fell through late last year. The company continues to seek additional tenants to fill its expansive campus.
Implications for Texas’s tech and energy landscape
The board change underscores the challenges of building a large‑scale, privately powered data‑center hub in West Texas. While the project promises to bring jobs and advanced infrastructure, the loss of a high‑profile board member like Perry may affect investor confidence.
Local officials and community leaders have expressed interest in how Fermi’s “HyperGrid” model could impact the regional power grid and economic development. The company’s approach of generating its own power aims to address concerns that data centers could strain the state’s electricity supply.
Fermi’s next steps will likely focus on securing additional tenants, finalizing its nuclear licensing application, and stabilizing its financial footing. The board’s composition, now reduced to a single co‑founder, Larry Kellerman, will guide those efforts moving forward.
Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
