The husband of socialite publicist Roxy Jacenko could see the planned ASX float of his AI company delayed or possibly axed all together after its expected valuation plunged by billions of dollars.
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valuation → see → dollars
Oliver Curtis, who founded Sydney-based Firmus Technologies in 2019, secured deals with three of the world's biggest AI companies - OpenAI, Nvidia and Meta - in September.
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who → found → September
Firmus provides the physical infrastructure - data centres packed with powerful computer chips - that OpenAI can use to train AI models and run ChatGPT for users.
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OpenAI → provide → users
Curtis and his cousin and co-founder, Tom Rosenfield, secured the deals as the firm prepares to list on the Australian Securities Exchange on October 23.
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firm → secure → October
But on Thursday, sources told The Australian's DataRoom that the IPO was at risk of being revalued, delayed and possibly called off.
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IPO → tell → risk
Firmus advisers also suggested the company's valuation could be closer to $30 billion rather than the initially targeted $43 billion, according to sources.
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valuation → suggest → sources
They also said the proposed share price could fall from about $11 to around $8.75.
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price → say → 8.75
Firmus’s chip supplier, Nvidia, has been reportedly been called upon to offer more financial support.
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supplier → call → support
Another source said a New York hedge fund had turned down the opportunity to participate in the float because of chief executive Oliver Curtis's insider trading conviction, despite his regulatory clearance.
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fund → say → clearance
At its original valuation, the Firmus listing was expected to be the second-largest float in Australian history.
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listing → expect → history
Oliver Curtis (pictured with wife Roxy Jacenko) could see his AI company pull out of plans for the initial public offering
Curtis started up Firmus Technologies in 2019, which was headquartered in Singapore where he lives for part of the year with Jacenko and their children, now in their teens
The germination of Curtis' AI company began when he left jail (above, exiting Cooma prison in June 2017)
Greg Canavan, from Canavan Capital Partners, this week wrote that the previous $43-plus billion valuation was 'absurd'.
'A lot of commentary saying negativity around Firmus is just tall poppy syndrome,' he said on Thursday morning.
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he → picture → morning
It's a horrendously priced company.
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It → price → ?
Fellow analyst Marcus Padley called Firmus' previous valuation 'delusional' on Wednesday.
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Padley → call → Wednesday
'One of the major industry funds has refused to take stock.
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One → refuse → stock
OpenAI, SB Energy and Oura have all delayed their IPOs in the US, but not Firmus in Australia,' he said.
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he → delay → Australia
$215 million worth of broker fees ensures a lot of self-interested commentary and coverage.
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worth → ensure → commentary
I think we'll look back and see this as the peak attempt to exploit data centre sentiment.
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we → think → sentiment
The delay comes months after he marked the nine-year anniversary of his release from Cooma Correctional Centre having been granted parole on his conviction of conspiracy to insider trade.
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he → come → conspiracy
Curtis was convicted in June 2016 of conspiring to commit insider trading using confidential information, and served 12 months of a two-year prison sentence.
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Curtis → convict → sentence
He was found guilty over confidential tip-offs provided by his old school friend John Joseph Hartman.
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He → find → friend
Hartman was an equities dealer at Orion Asset Management, which managed billions of dollars of investments.
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which → manage → investments
Firmus Technologies operate a data centre site at St Leonards, in Launceston, Tasmania
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Technologies → operate → Launceston
Because of his job, Hartman knew in advance when Orion was planning to buy or sell large amounts of particular shares - and those trades could move the market price.
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trades → know → price
The court found that Hartman provided Curtis with confidential information about Orion Asset Management's trading intentions on 45 occasions between May 25, 2007 and June 11, 2008.
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Hartman → find → May
Curtis used the tip-offs to make trades before Orion carried out its planned trades.
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Orion → use → trades
Curtis was 30 when he was convicted, but the sentencing judge said he was just 21 when he committed the offence.
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he → convict → offence
Before they were convicted, the pair drank at city bars and made a total of $1.4 million from the illegal trades, splashing the proceeds on luxury items and trips.
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pair → convict → items
Hartman, son of the obstetrician to the Packer and Murdoch families, and Curtis, the son of the executive chairman of rare earth miner Lynas, were living together in a $3,000-a-week Bondi apartment at the time.
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Hartman → live → time
Hartman bought a $60,000 Mini Cooper and a $20,000 Ducati motorcycle.
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Hartman → buy → Cooper
They took their friends on holidays to gamble in Las Vegas casinos, and paid for strippers at Cirque de Soleil.
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They → take → Soleil
They took a helijet from Vancouver to ski in Whistler, Canada because they would be 'too hungover to drive'.
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they → take → Whistler
Even before things came to a head, the old school mates had begun to fall out with one another over money to support their lifestyle and Curtis' gambling habit.
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mates → come → lifestyle
In August 2008, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission began scrutinising Hartman's stockbroking account after it detected illegal trading.
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it → begin → trading
On January 13, 2009, Hartman's broker froze the $2.6m account, making Hartman believe he had been caught red-handed.
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he → freeze → account
Five days later, he rang his father, moved out of the Bondi flat, quit his job and a day after was confessing everything inside a room to ASIC investigators.
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he → ring → investigators
Hartman was jailed aged 25 in 2010 and served 15 months in prison, and Curtis' case finally went to trial in 2016.
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case → jail → 2016
During a tense three-week trial, Jacenko, who'd married Curtis in 2012, wore a series of designer outfits worth thousands including, on one day, carrying a black crocodile skin Hermes Birkin bag, reportedly worth $162,000.
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who → marry → bag
Jacenko submitted a letter to the court after her husband was found guilty, pleading to Justice Lucy McCallum that Curtis was the primary carer of her children as she had a '24 hour, 7 days a week' job.
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she → submit → job
Curtis debuted on The Australian's 'Richest 250' list this year with an estimated paper fortune of $1.29billion.
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Curtis → debut → 1.29billion
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