Fermi's ousted CEO sold $13 million of stock into a 52-week low, then said it 'should be soaring'
Toby Neugebauer, ousted as Fermi's chief executive in April, sold 7,657,800 shares for about $13 million in three sessions, 5 million of them on the day the stock touched its 52-week low. The next morning he demanded the company be sold, with its only tenant lease unsigned and $62.5 million of cash against a $737.9 million trailing loss.
Vincent Jiang · 3 min read
The man who says banks indicated $10 billion to $20 billion for Fermi in May 1 just took $1.52 a share for five million shares 2. Fermi Inc.−2.61% — Fermi Inc., down 2.61 percent today is the Texas company building Project Matador, a private power-and-data-center campus for AI computing near Amarillo 3. A Form 4, the SEC filing that discloses insider trades, landed after Thursday's close: Toby Neugebauer, removed as chief executive in April in a firing he disputes 31, and his family trust sold 7,657,800 shares in three sessions for about $13 million 2.
The heaviest tranche fell on the worst day: 5,000,000 shares on November 5 at a weighted average of $1.5206, in trades from $1.44 to $1.59 2. That session took the stock to $1.44, its 52-week low, and it closed down 15.9 percent at $1.53, roughly 94 percent below its October 2025 listing price 45.
His notice of intent, filed November 3 through Goldman Sachs, covered 2,563,800 shares 6; The Inference reported it the next day 7. By Thursday night he had sold 7,657,800, nearly three times the notice, at about $1.70 a share on average; the Form 4 shows 84,813,010 shares still held directly, about $129 million at the close, and no reason stated 28.
Each tranche priced lower than the last
Two thirds of the week's shares went out on the worst day
Data
| Weighted-average sale price | |
|---|---|
| Nov 3 | $2.04 |
| Nov 4 | $1.99 |
| Nov 5 | $1.52 |
He says the stock should be soaring
Friday morning he published the opposite case. "Today should be Fermi's greatest day," his statement opened, insisting the stock "should be soaring" and demanding Fermi be put up for sale now while it closes a tenant deal 1. Since he suspended his proxy campaign on July 3, he says, the stock has lost more than 80 percent of its value 1.
The board that Marius Haas leads did not blink. At the October 30 meeting Rick Perry, the former Texas governor and US energy secretary who co-founded Fermi, drew 249,418,156 votes for and 197,613,834 against, short of a majority of the 641,259,703 shares outstanding; he was not re-elected but stays on as a director 9. Fermi says Neugebauer-affiliated investors breached a voting agreement, and that with their 98,859,659 shares Perry would have been elected; they dispute it 9.
The lease is waiting on money Fermi does not have
Fermi's August lease with TensorWave, an AMD+8.13% — AMD, up 8.13 percent today-backed AI cloud that raised $350 million in June 10, is the campus's only announced tenancy, after a tentative Amazon+0.61% — Amazon, up 0.61 percent today deal fell through late last year 3. The October 31 closing date passed with the conditions unmet, among them project-level financing sufficient to fund construction 11. Chief executive Lee McIntire's response: "Both Fermi and TensorWave remain committed to this lease, and we are continuing to work through the remaining conditions prior to close" 11.
The balance sheet explains the wait: $62.5 million of cash against a $737.9 million trailing net loss 4, a gap The Inference flagged at $3.42 in mid-October 12. Options imply about a 19 percent move by the November 12 report 13.
At $1.53 the buyers are retail, and the targets are stale
Ten analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target of $16.86 8, eleven times the share price. Retail is keener: "worth throwing 3k at this as a gamble play... a prime buyout target," one Stocktwits poster wrote as the selling began 14. Insiders sold 12,125,749 shares worth $28,639,969 last quarter; his three days are 63 percent of the shares and about 45 percent of the value 28.
Published targets run from $8 to $16.86 against a $1.53 close
Every published target is more than five times the share price
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| Close, Nov 5 | $1.53 |
| Cantor Fitzgerald | $8 |
| Mizuho | $11 |
| 10-analyst average | $16.86 |
November 12 is the test, when McIntire, who laid out a three-part capital strategy in an October letter 15, must square the lease's financing condition with the cash on hand 11. Until then, every buyer at $1.53 is the exit liquidity for a holder who still owns 84.8 million shares 2.
Get Data Center by email, free
Who is building AI's data centers, and who is paying for them. In our daily email, every weekday.
