Nuclear energy startup Fermi officialized its leadership transition this Wednesday by appointing Lee McIntire as its chief executive officer. The executive decision arrives three months after the company removed co-founder Toby Neugebauer from the top leadership role.
McIntire brings heavy industry experience to the energy firm. He served as an independent member on Fermi board of directors and previously held executive leadership positions at engineering firm CH2M Hill and TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup backed by Bill Gates. Fermi board members brought him on to guide the company through its next phase, which centers on physical construction and power distribution.
Fermi, co-founded by former United States Energy Secretary Rick Perry, is building a massive technology campus in Amarillo, Texas, called Project Matador. The company plans to construct nuclear reactors on the site to supply direct, off-grid power to heavy computing operations and data centers.
The leadership announcement gave a major boost to Fermi stock performance, which jumped nearly 23 percent since Monday. That financial rally followed another key business milestone earlier in the week, when Fermi signed its first binding customer contract with TensorWave to lease computing infrastructure space inside the Project Matador facility.
This operational progress offers fresh momentum after months of corporate disruption. Back in April, the company experienced severe internal conflicts that led to the sudden exit of Neugebauer and chief financial officer Miles Everson. Following those high-level departures, company leadership rebranded its operational strategy as Fermi 2.0, moving its main corporate office to Dallas and restructuring its project milestones.
Marius Haas, chairman of the Fermi board of directors, highlighted McIntire proven track record with large-scale industrial builds. Haas noted that McIntire brings four decades of experience delivering complex infrastructure projects safely, on time, and within set budget limits. Because McIntire already served on the board throughout the recent strategic transition, he understands internal operations and maintains established relationships with commercial clients, regulatory authorities, and community leaders in Texas.
As technology platforms demand massive amounts of uninterrupted energy to power artificial intelligence hardware, building dedicated nuclear facilities offers a direct alternative to crowded public power grids. Getting nuclear reactors online requires navigating strict federal safety rules, securing massive supply chains, and keeping physical construction schedules strictly on target. Hiring a veteran nuclear executive puts Fermi in a stronger position to turn its Texas energy plans into a working industrial reality.