UPDATE: Fermi ex-CEO Neugebauer calls removal from board 'misguided'
Toby Neugebauer on Wednesday called the company’s decision to remove him from the board ‘completely misguided,’ after he stepped down as chief executive last week.
Fermi Inc on Friday said it terminated the contract of Neugebauer due to conduct which violated its terms.
‘As a co-founder and the largest shareholder who has yet to sell a single share, no one believes more in the future of what we built at Fermi than I. These actions by the board are completely misguided. I will continue to fight vigorously to maximize value for all shareholders,’ Neugebauer said in response.
Shares in the real estate investment trust, focused on data centres and a power grid development in Texas, closed up 1.8% at $5.15 on Friday in London.
Fermi last week reported that both Neugebauer and Chief Financial Officer Miles Everson were stepping down from their roles, but would remain on the company’s board.
Initially, Fermi did not specify the reasons behind their departures, but said on Friday that Neugebauer’s contract termination was ‘a result of conduct in violation of the terms of such agreement and of company policies’.
The company had previously said the ex-CEO would remain a director, but the termination automatically removes him from the board.
Fermi had also noted last week that Everson would be elected to the board ‘as a result of the exercise of director designation rights held by the Melissa A Neugebauer 2020 Trust’.
On Thursday, Fermi appointed Rob Masson as interim CFO. Masson served in the US Navy before his career in ‘government contracting, technology and business services’, which included a stint as CFO of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Systems at Raytheon Technologies Corp.
Fermi last week appointed Marius Haas as its new chair, and said it was entering a new phase of development which the company has dubbed ‘Fermi 2.0’.
Haas said Hasson’s ‘appointment marks a notable next step for the company’ while Hasson said he was joining Fermi ‘at a pivotal time in its evolution’, and stressed the importance of the company’s commitment to ‘America’s energy dominance’.
Besides Neugebauer, Fermi’s other co-founder is Rick Perry, a former Texas state governor and US energy secretary from 2017 to 2019.
Separate from his involvement with Fermi, Neugebauer has been the target of a lawsuit related to bankrupt conservative financial startup GloriFi, whose backers included Palantir Technologies Inc CEO Peter Thiel.
In March, Fermi reported a net loss of $486.4 million for the period from January 10 to December 31, 2025, equivalent to a loss per share of $1.13.
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