--- title: "VAST Data, valued at $30 billion, says AI clouds IPO because debt forces them, and it can wait" description: "The $30 billion storage vendor's co-founder says debt covenants, not ambition, are pushing AI clouds to list, and his company has none. Anthropic's filing may test that patience anyway." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Data Center" published: 2026-11-01T20:04:06.663Z modified: 2026-11-01T20:04:06.663Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/vast-data-valued-at-30-billion-says-ai-clouds-ipo-because-debt-forces-them-and-it-can-wait language: en keywords: "AI Infrastructure, Storage, IPO, Debt" --- # VAST Data, valued at $30 billion, says AI clouds IPO because debt forces them, and it can wait > The $30 billion storage vendor's co-founder says debt covenants, not ambition, are pushing AI clouds to list, and his company has none. Anthropic's filing may test that patience anyway. ## No covenant, no hurry Jeff Denworth, co-founder of [VAST Data](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/vast-data), the storage-and-data-platform company valued at $30 billion in its April round, [told SDxCentral on October 26](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/vast-data-co-founder-on-redefining-storage-ai-infra-booms-and-ipo-realities/) that nothing is pushing his company toward a listing [1]. "There's no pressure to go out," he said. "A lot of these clouds are going public because their debt covenants insist that they do, and we don't have any of that." A listing, in his words, needs a "frothy" market, and this one is not [1]. ## The squeeze sits in VAST's customer list The credit squeeze is not happening to VAST; it is happening to the people who pay VAST. The company counts neoclouds, the rented GPU-cloud providers, from [CoreWeave](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coreweave) to Firmus among its customers, and Denworth said credit was the topic he heard most at [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia)'s GTC Berlin, with VAST's supply-chain partners "completely maxed out from a credit perspective" and rising rates making GPU financing harder for non-investment-grade borrowers [1]. Days earlier, [Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk) wrote that [debt markets have "almost entirely shut off access to money"](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/elon-musk-predicts-guppy-level-104500941.html) for AI data-center companies without independent revenue: of more than 200 neoclouds, "Some will make it through, but not many" [2]. On October 19, [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft) [terminated its anchor-tenant agreement](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/microsoft-pulls-out-of-uk-nscale-data-centre-deal-over-power-delay/ar-AA2fFbVr) at [Nscale](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nscale)'s Loughton site in Essex after grid officials said power would not arrive until the 2030s, weeks after Nscale filed for a US IPO [3]. ## CoreWeave owes $51.6 billion The listed name in VAST's customer file, which [our October 14 reporting](https://theinference.org/article/vast-data-s-biggest-customer-is-now-building-vast-s-layer) showed has also backed the vendor, shows the strain in numbers: CoreWeave [ended June with $51.6 billion of debt against $2.575 billion of quarterly revenue](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001769628), and its $640 million net interest bill topped its $626 million net loss [4][2]. *Chart: **CoreWeave's debt climbed from $10.6 billion to $51.6 billion in six quarters** Line chart of CoreWeave's total debt rising from $10.6 billion in Q4 2024 to $51.6 billion in Q2 2026* *CoreWeave's total debt at the end of each quarter, Q4 2024 to Q2 2026, as reported in its SEC filings. Source: CoreWeave quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 1 November 2026. [4]* *Chart: **CoreWeave's quarterly revenue grew from $189 million to $2.6 billion in ten quarters** Line chart of CoreWeave's quarterly revenue rising from $0.189 billion in Q1 2024 to $2.575 billion in Q2 2026* *CoreWeave's quarterly revenue as reported in its SEC filings, Q1 2024 to Q2 2026. Source: CoreWeave quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 1 November 2026. [7]* ## The window is Anthropic's to open Denworth's own trigger fired the day the interview ran. [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic) [filed for a Nasdaq listing](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records) on October 26, with a debut possible as soon as November, and Denworth said VAST would face real pressure to follow "when Anthropic and [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai) go out" if markets receive them well; OpenAI's listing is on ice this year [5][1]. Private marks are still climbing meanwhile: [Cyera](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/cyera), Israel's second-largest private company behind VAST, is [in talks at a $20 billion valuation](https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-cyera-raising-funds-at-20b-valuation-report-1001561449), four months after raising $600 million at $12 billion [6]. Watch Anthropic's first trading day. If it lands well, the party VAST says it can skip becomes the party investors demand it join [1][5]. ## Takeaway The co-founder of VAST Data, valued at $30 billion, says AI clouds list because debt covenants force them and his company owes nothing; Anthropic's Nasdaq debut will decide whether the private party can last. ## Sources 1. [SDxCentral, "Vast Data co-founder on redefining storage, AI infra booms, and IPO realities", 26 October 2026](https://www.sdxcentral.com/news/vast-data-co-founder-on-redefining-storage-ai-infra-booms-and-ipo-realities/) 2. [Yahoo Finance (Moneywise), "Elon Musk predicts 'guppy-level death' for 200+ AI firms as debt tightens", 30 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/elon-musk-predicts-guppy-level-104500941.html) 3. [Reuters (via MSN), "Microsoft pulls out of UK Nscale data centre deal over power delay", 19 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/microsoft-pulls-out-of-uk-nscale-data-centre-deal-over-power-delay/ar-AA2fFbVr) 4. [CoreWeave quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 1 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001769628) 5. [NPR, "AI giant Anthropic files for an IPO that could break records", 26 October 2026](https://www.npr.org/2026/10/26/nx-s1-6014772/anthropic-ai-ipo-could-break-records) 6. [Globes, "Cyera raising funds at $20b valuation - report", 30 October 2026](https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-cyera-raising-funds-at-20b-valuation-report-1001561449) 7. [CoreWeave, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 1 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001769628) --- VAST Data, valued at $30 billion, says AI clouds IPO because debt forces them, and it can wait — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/vast-data-valued-at-30-billion-says-ai-clouds-ipo-because-debt-forces-them-and-it-can-wait