The recently fired CEO of Fermi America blamed Cody Campbell, Texas Tech University System board chairman, for his ouster in a press release to company investors Tuesday.
The system did not respond to our call and email Wednesday.
But a Fermi filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week outlined Tech’s frustration with Toby Neugebauer, which is described below.
Neugebauer also claimed Campbell’s business partner in Double Eagle Energy, John Sellers, would make a good leader of Fermi.
It’s the latest in a series of claims made back and forth between Neugebauer and Fermi management in a recent proxy fight for control of the company.
Neugebauer asked stockholders to support a special meeting to elect new board members of his choosing.
On Monday, Fermi’s current management released a statement asking stockholders to reject the special meeting Neugebauer would like to convene in mid-July.
“Mr. Neugebauer and his affiliates control approximately 40 percent of Fermi’s shares and only need 50.1 percent of shareholders to support his solicitation,” the statement said.
“Now, he is trying to wrest back control of Fermi to force a sale at a price that is far below Fermi’s intrinsic value. This would serve only to benefit a select few, namely Mr. Neugebauer and his affiliates, who received their stock pre-IPO for consideration at less than $0.01 per share, while locking in substantial losses for Fermi’s public shareholders,” Fermi’s statement said.
Fermi claimed Neugebauer was terminated for violating company policies, misleading the board and souring relationships with potential customers.
“Reject Mr. Neugebauer’s attempt to impose his self-interested and value-destructive agenda on the company,” Fermi told investors.
Background
Fermi America is building one of the world’s largest data centers on Texas Tech property near Amarillo – next door to Pantex, called Project Matador.
It’s more than 5,000 acres – and includes its own proposed nuclear power plant along with gas and solar. At one point the plan was for 11 gigawatts of power, but recent statements said it could generate up to 17 gigawatts. That’s enough for 12 million homes or more.
But the power is not for homes – it’s for hyperscale computing systems. The idea is “to support next-generation intelligence and AI computing.” LubbockLights.com described Project Matador here.
Texas Tech hopes the project will generate a substantial amount of income.
Fermi confirmed Tech’s involvement
Fermi issued a 35-page statement and filed it with the SEC Friday. The filing described some background leading up to Tech’s involvement before getting into the specifics.
“On March 20, 2026, Politico reported that Mr. Neugebauer publicly accosted Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick at the Nvidia GTC conference, with witnesses describing Mr. Neugebauer as ‘loud and belligerent,’ and that security personnel had to intervene to separate the two men.”
The Fermi board ordered a review of Neugebauer’s conduct. Within days, the Texas Tech System made its feelings known, according to Fermi.
“[Tech] notified Fermi that it considered the conduct reported by Politico to be a potential default under its ground lease with Fermi and demanded remedial action, including removal of Mr. Neugebauer from his executive positions at the company as a condition to refraining from taking any further actions … ” Fermi’s SEC filing said.
“Mr. Neugebauer’s leadership has severely damaged relationships with … the Company’s landlord, TTU, as well others who conditioned their willingness to continue to do business with Fermi on Mr. Neugebauer’s no longer being an executive or exerting control over the company,” Fermi wrote.
Neugebauer claims Campbell forced him out
Neugebauer proposed John Sellers – currently the Co-CEO of Double Eagle Energy – as the chairman and CEO of Fermi – claiming such a proposal was hard for him, but he was doing it anyway for the good of the stock price.
John Sellers. Credit: MatadorClub.org.
The other co-CEO of Double Eagle is Campbell. Neugebauer claimed Campbell used his position at Texas Tech to push for his removal.
“And what makes this recommendation so hard is not what Cody did to me, but that he went too far with his tactics in doing it, coming at me and the company hard on multiple occasions which culminated in his leading Texas Tech to demand my resignation,” Neugebauer wrote in his Tuesday evening press release.
“The solution allows Campbell to focus on being the lead fiduciary in his role as chairman of the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents, while allowing Sellers to be the lead fiduciary of Fermi,” Neugebauer said.
Sellers was well suited to finish the job – which means selling Fermi instead of developing it further for ongoing operations, Neugebauer said.
“John and Cody … are probably flabbergasted by this open letter – as I gave them no heads-up about my shift in perspective and willingness to compromise to achieve what is best for Fermi … ” Neugebauer said.
“… With Cody serving as chairman of the Board of Regents of the Texas Tech University System – John is best positioned to manage not only the 99-year lease with Texas Tech, but also to … launch the next phase of the company,” Neugebauer said.
Neugebauer’s statement also said Double Eagle proposed a “price tag” and “other terms” in a recent offer.
But offer to what? The statement did not say what Double Eagle was offering to provide or to do in exchange for a “price tag.”
Double Eagle has not yet responded to Lubbock Lights’ request for a comment.
Fermi opposes Neugebauer
Despite Neugebauer’s press release, Fermi claimed recent progress.
The search for a new CEO is going well, Fermi said, and financing commitments of $1 billion have been secured.
“More than $1.4 billion of infrastructure [is] already deployed, establishing a highly compelling speed-to-power advantage for customers,” Fermi’s statement said.
Customers would rent space inside the Fermi campus with Fermi providing the power and other infrastructure on site.
“Although no assurances can be made, the company is increasingly confident it will announce one or more transactions with a tenant and/or joint venture partner. The company urges shareholders not to support Mr. Neugebauer’s actions when it is at a critical inflection point for delivering significant long-term value-enhancing benefits to its shareholders,” Fermi said.
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