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Fermi Taps Lee McIntire as CEO to Lead Project Matador Buildout
Fermi has appointed board member Lee McIntire as CEO, filling the vacancy left by ousted co-founder Toby Neugebauer. The former TerraPower and CH2M Hill chief will oversee construction of the company's Amarillo AI campus.
Fermi announced Wednesday that Lee McIntire, an independent board member, will take over as chief executive, ending a leadership gap that began in April when the company dismissed co-founder Toby Neugebauer. McIntire previously served as CEO of engineering firm CH2M Hill and nuclear startup TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates.
The appointment comes as Fermi advances Project Matador, an AI campus in Amarillo, Texas, designed to run data centers on nuclear power. The company, co-founded by former U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry, also disclosed Monday that TensorWave signed the first binding customer lease at the project.
Investors responded positively. Fermi's stock has risen nearly 23% since Monday's lease announcement, giving the company a lift after a turbulent spring.
In April, Neugebauer and CFO Miles Everson were pushed out as part of a broader shakeup the company called Fermi 2.0, which also included plans for a Dallas corporate headquarters.
Chairman Marius Haas said in a statement that McIntire's four decades of experience delivering large, complex projects make him the right fit for a "construction and power delivery story." "The job now is to build on schedule, on budget, and safely," Haas added.