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Firmus Technologies, co-founded by Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, is set to raise $7.2 billion in a stock market listing, valuing the AI data centre firm at $43.7 billion.
Firmus Technologies, a Singapore-based data centre builder and operator co-founded by Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, is set to raise $7.2 billion in new capital through a stock market listing that would value the company at $43.7 billion. The listing, expected by next Friday, would be one of Australia's biggest ever, second only to Telstra's privatisation in the 1990s. Curtis, who was convicted of insider trading a decade ago, is poised to become a billionaire with his more than 13 per cent stake.
Oliver Curtis: From Conviction to Billionaire
A decade ago, Oliver Curtis was a corporate pariah. Convicted of conspiracy to commit insider trading, he was sentenced to two years in prison. He was sent to a relatively low-key facility in Cooma, where it is said he became a hairdresser for inmates, and was released after one year on good behaviour.
His transgression was not a one-off or a simple spur of the moment lack of judgement. He and his former best friend from school, John Hartman, engaged in a cleverly planned and executed scheme to profit from insider trades. In 2007, just before the global financial system began its meltdown, Hartman approached Curtis with a plan. Whenever his employer, investment group Orion, was about to engage in a large transaction, he would notify Curtis to trade in what is known as Contracts For Difference, which ordinarily are high risk instruments that routinely clean out investors.
According to the evidence, over the course of a year, he engaged in these trades on 45 separate occasions. The then 21-year-olds split the profits with Curtis splurging on lavish gifts for his mate. But in 2009, not long after the corporate regulator began investigating Hartman, he spilled the beans and was the first to do time. He has admitted in interviews that his time behind bars was tough and that it deeply impacted his family.
Firmus Technologies and the AI Data Centre Market
Firmus, the data centre builder and operator which has existed in various forms for just seven years, is riding the wave of investor frenzy for all things AI. Traditional data centres, the kind employed until now by the likes of Google, Meta, Amazon et al, are designed to handle a range of applications, everything from search engines to database management and content storage. Neoclouds are data centres equipped with Graphics Processor Units (GPUs) and specifically designed to cater to the needs of artificial intelligence.
And the key point of difference, the selling point, between Firmus and its rivals is an innovation that allows it to use a mere fraction of the water than that required by the existing technology. It also claims to have the lowest operating costs in the industry. Ask a question about what AI centres actually produce, and you will be bombarded with constant references to tokens. It is simply a measure of a neocloud operator's output. And according to Firmus, their AI tokens are about the cheapest on the planet.
It is that selling point that has attracted the likes of Meta and OpenAI as customers, Blackstone as an investor and Nvidia as a supplier and investor. US investment giant Blackstone has close to 7 per cent of the existing stock while chip giant Nvidia — which routinely vies for pole position as the world's most valuable corporation — holds slightly more. With more than 13 per cent of the company, Curtis will officially cement his role on the rich list. His father Nick, a pioneer of Australian critical minerals mining and the driving force behind Lynas Rare Earths, is also slated to profit handsomely from his 5.6 per cent stake.
Challenges and Future Prospects
Amid the ongoing investor frenzy for all things AI, there is a growing apprehension on artificial intelligence from governments globally while on the data centre front line, community opposition could dent the rosy forecasts for future earnings. And then there are the financial risks, and the circular financing and interdependence within the industry; risks highlighted this week by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Oliver Curtis and business partner Tim Rosenfield have faced more obstacles than most in their quest to convince the globe's biggest tech players and investors to jump aboard the Firmus express. There is the uncomfortable reality that neither has any experience running data centres or a background in technology.
The company, however, is still making a loss. And the planned rollout of its technology will require a huge amount of capital expenditure. Which is why it wants to list on the stock market. It hopes to turn a profit within two years, according to its prospectus, with about $US5 billion ($7.2 billion) in annual earnings from its data centres in Malaysia, Indonesia along with the centres it is developing in Tasmania.
There has been plenty of that with Firmus which, along with its well-heeled backers, have helped generate a whirlwind of FOMO among would be punters. Tasmania Premier Jeremy Rockliff alongside Firmus co-CEOs Tim Rosenfield and Oliver Curtis at the Firmus Technologies facility in Launceston.
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