Good morning. In October, Fortune reported that former U.S. energy secretary and Texas governor Rick Perry’s AI power startup Fermi “went from nonexistent to an October IPO with a mammoth $16 billion market cap in less than a year without any announced customers or construction—or even a single dollar of revenue.” Now they are without a CEO or CFO as well.
Fermi, a Texas-based AI startup, is developing an AI campus in Amarillo, Texas, powered by nuclear reactors. The company said Monday that its “Fermi 2.0” strategy includes leadership changes. Toby Neugebauer stepped down as CEO on April 17 but remains on the board, according to an SEC filing.
The company’s IPO last year was quickly followed by a steep decline in the stock market as it lost its first planned hyperscaler customer, Fortune’s Jordan Blum reports. An unnamed Fermi tenant canceled a $150 million deal for the data center campus in December. Fermi had planned to secure an anchor tenant by March, which has yet to happen, according to Blum.
Fermi’s market cap has fallen from nearly $20 billion in October down to $3.4 billion as of Monday, including a nearly 18% dip on the news of the leadership changes. The board created an Interim Office of the CEO, including COO Jacobo Ortiz and board observer Anna Bofa, and launched a formal CEO search with Heidrick & Struggles. Some analysts think Neugebauer’s “surprising” departure could prove to be a positive for the company. You can read more here.
Meanwhile, Miles Everson resigned as CFO and secretary on April 19 without “good reason,” according to an SEC filing, but was elected to the board with a term expiring in 2028.
Everson’s CFO agreement took effect upon Fermi’s IPO in October, after being signed on Sept. 30, 2025. Before Fermi, he spent more than six years as CEO of MBO Partners and about 30 years at PwC in senior roles including global advisory and consulting leader.
Fermi said it’s currently in negotiations to secure an interim CFO. In the age of AI, a new barometer has emerged for CFO recruiting, said Shawn Cole, president and founding partner of executive search firm Cowen Partners. “Everything from AI curiosity to proven AI expertise” is in demand, he told me.
As part of “Fermi 2.0,” the company aims to attract strategic investors, including sovereign funds and client-tenants. Cole said firms typically want either the CEO or CFO to bring those relationships. “But that absolutely could be a part of the CFO mandate,” he added. This means that strong contacts could outweigh an AI aptitude barometer.
As boards reshape teams around AI-driven strategies, they may increasingly want CFOs who can both lead AI transformation and engage sophisticated investors—but those skills don’t always come together.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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