Nick Clegg could make approximately $40m (£30m) from the planned float of Nscale as the UK-based datacentre company prepares for a US stock market listing. The former UK deputy prime minister owns more than 917,000 shares in the startup, which is reportedly seeking a valuation of up to $35bn in a flotation. Based on Clegg’s stake of 0.12%, that could yield a valuation of about $42m for the ex-Liberal Democrat party leader.
Clegg is a board member at Nscale along with the former Meta executive, Sheryl Sandberg, whose 0.25% stake could be worth $88m if Nscale floats at the $35bn valuation, a figure reported by the Financial Times this month. However, Nscale was last valued in a funding round at $14.6bn, implying lower valuations of Clegg and Sandberg’s stakes of about $18m and $37m, respectively. Forbes has estimated Sandberg’s wealth at $2.4bn, while Clegg has made about £24m from sales of shares in Meta, where he was formerly the president of global affairs.
Both are paid an annual retainer of $60,000. The Telegraph first reported Clegg’s potential wealth gain from the Nscale float. UK-based Nscale filed papers for its flotation in the US on 18 September and could make its stock market debut before the year end.
The company is preparing to list in New York, reflecting its global ambitions and the depth of funding available in the US for expensive AI infrastructure projects. Nscale reported a loss of $1bn in the six months to 30 June, on revenues of $140m. In the flotation document, Nscale said its losses reflected the “substantial investments” it has made in a “highly capital intensive” business.
Josh Payne, the chief executive of Nscale, has said the company sees a “significant” opportunity in sovereign AI, where countries develop their own models and infrastructure, in order to reduce reliance on US or Chinese technology. Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, and Margrethe Vestager, the former EU competition head, have both called for Europe to do more to develop its own AI infrastructure. The Guardian revealed this year that one Nscale project in Loughton, Essex, is an undeveloped scrapyard.
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