New York, June 17, 2026, 15:03 EDT
- Fermi jumped 12.8% to $8.89 on Nasdaq, trading nearly 29.5 million shares.
- Toby Neugebauer, the former CEO, has thrown his support behind Double Eagle’s John Sellers for Fermi’s chairman and CEO roles, turning up the pressure in the ongoing board and strategy battle.
- Fermi’s board is telling investors to turn down Neugebauer’s push and says there isn’t a special shareholder meeting planned.
Fermi Inc shares rose Wednesday after ex-CEO Toby Neugebauer backed John Sellers of Double Eagle Energy III to take charge of the AI power player. The nod ramps up pressure in an ongoing governance battle over Fermi’s incomplete Project Matador campus.
Fermi’s valuation is still driven more by hopes for its Texas power and data-center project than by current profits. The big question is whether it can land contracts with hyperscalers, the top buyers in cloud and AI computing who need a lot of power. Investors see the board battle at Fermi as a race to sign up tenants and bring in capital.
Neugebauer, ousted as CEO earlier this year, said in an open letter that Sellers, who is co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy III, or someone with equal credentials, should be named chairman and CEO right away. “I am not going to let my pride come ahead of shareholder value,” Neugebauer wrote. PR Newswire
Fermi responded this week, saying there’s no special meeting of shareholders set up and that Neugebauer doesn’t have enough backing to make it happen. The board told shareholders to send in a white revocation card to pull back or signal they don’t support the activist group’s push for a meeting.
Fermi set a high bar in its filing, saying a special meeting can only be called with support from holders of at least 50% of the outstanding common stock. The company reported about 637.6 million shares out as of April 26, so about 318.8 million shares would be required. That figure counts the 146.5 million shares Fermi listed under the Neugebauer group.
The board says its “Fermi 2.0” plan can unlock more value than either a quick sale or shaking up the board. Marius Haas, Fermi’s chairman, said last month the company was at a “meaningful inflection point” and was spending 90 days trying to secure a binding tenant agreement, manage liquidity, hire a CEO and get power to the site. SEC
Fermi ended the first quarter with $243 million in total cash and restricted cash, locked in $785 million of new equipment-finance facilities, and booked a $189 million net loss for the quarter. The loss was mostly from share-based compensation and debt-extinguishment. The company also said it spent $441 million on property, plant and equipment for the quarter.
Fermi jumped more than its AI-infrastructure peers on Wednesday. CoreWeave added close to 4.1% and IREN was up 3.9%. Fermi led the group as names tied to AI infrastructure moved higher, but its move was stronger than most of the power-hungry AI buildout stocks.
But the downside case is still there. Fermi’s risk warnings say it needs permits, tenant deals, project financing, construction success, grid access, steady supply chains, enough natural gas and water, and nuclear licenses. If the governance rally stalls and neither side lands a customer or financing, gains could disappear fast.
At this point, the stock trades as much on who’s in charge as on deal progress. The next clear signal to watch: if Neugebauer lines up enough backers to push a vote, or if Fermi is able to name a tenant or strategic partner ahead of that showdown.
