A company with little more than some leases, some promises, and a vague connection to the President just minted several new billionaires.

Despite having built nothing, shown no revenue, and having no customers, the company went public and is now worth more than Hasbro, makers of GI Joe, Magic, and the Transformers brand. It's also worth more than Moderna - of Covid vaccine fame - and JLL, the real estate giant.

So what exactly do investors see in Fermi America?

The company launched only this January and issued convertible bonds at a valuation of $3 billion only a few months ago. Now, it's raised $682.5 million through a $15bn IPO.

Founded by former US Energy Secretary Rick Perry and CEO Toby Neugebauer, the company said in SEC filings that its flagship Project Matador could deliver up to 11GW of energy and support up to 15 million square feet of AI-ready hyperscale compute infrastructure by 2038.

More immediately, it claims to have 1.1GW of power online by the end of 2026 - 200MW from the Southwestern Public Service Company (a contract has yet to be signed), and natural gas power from Siemens Energy and GE turbines that the company has promised to buy.

Future power will come from more gas, solar, and up to four AP1000 Pressurized Water Reactors developed by Westinghouse.

Matador is located on 5,236 acres of land owned by the Texas Tech University System, with Fermi granted (more on that later) a 99-year lease to build out its ambitious goals.

Currently, the company is in 'phase 0' of its plans, despite now being publicly listed. This, Fermi says, means sorting out fiber connections, water services from the City of Amarillo, ensuring the large-scale natural gas delivery contracts and construction, developing a pad for the Siemens turbines, and building a yard. Oh, and they need to actually build a road for the site.

Phase 1 is where the work really starts, with 2.6 million square feet of data center capacity developed, and at least 1.1 GW of power deployed. Mobile gensets and BESS systems, solar, grid connections, and more, are also promised. All by the end of 2026.

These two phases will require $2 billion of capital expenditures, the company predicts.

From there, it keeps ramping, with more data centers, more gas, alongside Westinghouse Reactors and SMRs.

Then there's the reality of the lease. While Fermi and the university have signed an agreement, the lease only actually begins when the company signs an agreement with a data center subtenant for at least 200MW and 200,000 sq ft. Fermi will have to pay TTU millions every year, alongside a percentage of the appraised value of the leased data center space.

Fermi is also expected to establish and fund a TTUS Excellence Fund for amounts up to $200 million.

At this point, it's probably worth mentioning that Fermi is not a GPU provider like CoreWeave, Nebius, or Nscale. It is a REIT - which means it must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders - that requires data center customers.

None have, as yet, signed up to the $15bn business.

Somewhat similar attempts to build mega-campuses of campuses have struggled. Quantum Loophole was mired in local politics and investor legal fights, while Tract has taken years to build momentum.

The reality is that, even in this current market boom, simply winning customers takes significant time. Those companies then have their own land surveys, designs, and processes that naturally bog down development.

In its SEC filing, Fermi notes that "the scale of infrastructure planned at Project Matador will require extensive permitting, interconnection, and third-party coordination," all of which could drag out any plans.

Pulling all of this off would be a feat unlike any pulled off in the data center industry. And it would have to be pulled off by a management team with no background in data centers.

The company's SEC filing lists just five individuals in charge of deploying as much data center capacity as the entirety of Europe.

Former Texan Governor Rick Perry is listed at the top, as co-founder and director. Perry, who once forgot in a debate the name of the Department of Energy when listing which departments he would abolish, was made head of the DOE in 2016. He left after President Trump partially blamed him for the Ukraine scandal that led to his impeachment.

Listed next is Toby Neugebauer. Son of Texan politician Randy Neugebauer, he was a major donor to Perry and Ted Cruz. As well as energy and investment companies, Neugebauer founded GloriFi, which went bankrupt.

In court proceedings, a bankruptcy trustee claimed that the Fermi CEO caused the collapse due to self-dealing arrangements, while blaming the company's directors, investors, media, and 'the Chinese.' It added: "Put simply, at one time or another, Mr. Neugebauer effectively blamed everyone for GloriFi’s failings. Save one: the man in the mirror."

The court filing adds: "The real story of GloriFi’s demise cannot be understood without appreciating Mr. Neugebauer’s (i) unyielding desire to exercise singular control over the Company at all costs, and (ii) complete disregard and disdain for corporate governance and the fiduciary obligations he owed the Company and its many stakeholders."

The GloriFi scandal is referenced in Fermi's filing, with the company admitting that ongoing lawsuits may distract Neugebauer, or lead to negative media coverage.

Next on the Fermi management rollcall is head of power Larry Kellerman, who has a strong background in his field - with time at I Squared Capital, Atlantic Power & Utilities, and Neugebauer's Quantum Energy Partners.

Similarly experienced is nuclear boss Mesut Uzman, who worked for more than six years at the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation. Nuclear projects in the US have yet to be delivered on time and on budget.

Finally, there's Griffin Perry, best known for being Rick Perry's son. The younger Perry also founded Grey Rock Investment Partners, which invests in oil projects, and sits on the board of the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association. The Cotton Bowl sponsors the TTU's annual college football game.

None in the team have connections to the data center industry, or experience dealing with its stringent requirements and tight deadlines.

Instead, the pitch appears to be based on a different connection - that to Trump.

In one application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the company called the site the 'Donald J. Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus,' Neugebauer has donated to Trump, and Perry has worked with him. Fermi's first social media post on Instagram included footage of Joe Biden asleep and Trump standing proudly by the American flag.

Already, the project has the blessing of the Trump Administration.

"This campus proves that we can integrate natural gas, nuclear energy, and artificial intelligence into a single, powerful ecosystem," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a September statement. "Modern energy infrastructure isn’t a luxury, it’s the foundation of global leadership. By advancing President Trump’s Energy Dominance Agenda, we’re not just fueling America - we’re powering the future of intelligence.”

These connections, investors hope, will give the company an edge in securing approvals and connections. But red tape will remain, no matter the political will, dragging out any project.

The DOE itself is looking to develop data centers on its land, under a scheme first pushed by Biden and carried on by Trump. Despite both Presidents calling for projects on Federally-owned land, no developments have yet begun.

For Fermi to be worth more than Domino's Pizza, as it is today, would require it to manage to:

• Develop data center infrastructure faster than experienced rivals, despite no experience and a historic worker shortage
• Deploy power infrastructure at an unprecedented speed, despite long lead times on critical equipment
• Convince a small number of large companies to commit to huge contracts, despite no track record
• Deploy more than twice that of Microsoft Azure’s global data center footprint in a single location
• Deploy nuclear power on time and on budget, despite no one ever pulling that off
• Continue to raise billions to fund its operations, with no assets and no revenue

All of this has to happen all while the AI boom continues, with the REIT having to maintain its Hyatt Hotels-beating market cap to help fund continued operations.

Good luck.