Firmus IPO: Aussie AI firm targets $43.7 billion valuation in biggest listing since TelstraFirmus Technologies, the data centre operator co-founded by billionaire Oliver Curtis, is set to be the second biggest IPO in Australian history.Tamika Seeto4 min readOctober 2, 2026 - 4:29PMA high-profile Aussie businessman jailed for insider trading is set to cement his status as an AI billionaire and complete the ultimate redemption arc when his AI data centre firm makes its debut on the Aussie share market. Oliver Curtis, husband of PR maven Roxy Jacenko, and his cousin Tim Rosenfield are preparing to launch their company, Firmus Technologies, on the ASX on October 23 in what is set to be the second biggest IPO in Australian history.Want more finance news? Download our new app for even more coverageFirmus is seeking a $43.7 billion valuation and a price of $11 per share for its initial public offering. It’s aiming to raise $7.2 billion, according to a term sheet posted overnight. This would put it behind only Telstra’s $10 billion listing in 1997.Tim Rosenfield, left, and Oliver Curtis, founders and co-CEOs of Firmus Technologies in the company’s Global Operations Centre in Singapore. Picture: SuppliedFirmus is expected to have $US30 billion ($43 billion) in debt, implying an enterprise valuation of $US60 billion ($86 billion).Others you may likenewsnewsIts bankers told investors they had already received indicative bids above the deal size, with bookbuilding due to begin on Tuesday next week.An “over-allotment” option of $US500 million ($720 million) may be added.The company builds what it calls “AI Factories” — ultra-dense, specialised computing facilities purpose-built from the ground up to train and scale complex AI models. It operates data centres in Singapore and Melbourne and has a pipeline of developments in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.Launceston Firmus AI factory mid-construction in St Leonards. Picture: Firmus TechnologiesThe company has contracts with some of the world’s biggest tech firms, including Meta, OpenAI and Nvidia.Nvidia is also a substantial shareholder in the company, owning 7.2 per cent.Mr Curtis owns 13.3 per cent, his father Nick Curtis 5.6 per cent, and Mr Rosenfield 5.4 per cent. Tech investor Coatue has 8.4 per cent, Blackstone 6.7 per cent, while other existing investors hold the remaining 53.3 per cent.At $11 per share, Mr Curtis would emerge with a $5 billion paper stake in his business. From jail cell to AI billionaireMr Curtis, 41, co-founded Firmus in 2019, not long after spending time in prison over what is now known as the biggest and best-known insider trading case in Australian history.In 2016, he was sentenced to two years in prison – serving 12 months – for his role in a $1.43 million insider trading scheme committed alongside his former Bondi roommate and school friend John Hartman, who worked for Orion Asset Management. He was convicted and sentenced in relation to one count of conspiracy to commit insider trading.The duo relied on encrypted BlackBerry messages between 2007 and 2008 to trade on illegal share price shifts. Oliver Curtis and wife Roxy Jacenko arriving at court for his sentencing in 2016. Picture: News Corp AustraliaAt the time, Justice Lucy McCallum said Curtis “shows no sign of progression beyond the self-interested pursuit of material wealth which prompted his offending”. She noted he used the proceeds of an illegal deal with Hartman to cash in on inside information to “fund a lifestyle of conspicuous extravagance”. Mr Curtis spoke openly about his conviction in a tell-all interview on the Rampart Talks podcast with finance reporter Joe Aston in March. He acknowledged that “gravely stupid” mistakes led to his prison sentence. He admitted his past actions were wrong but said they had shaped his journey towards “redemption”. After initially pleading “not guilty,” Curtis admitted to Aston that he “owns” the crimes.Oliver Curtis with wife Roxy Jacenko. Picture: Roxy Jacenko/InstagramThe couple live in Singapore with their two kids. Picture: Roxy Jacenko/Instagram“Let’s just talk about some facts,” he told Aston. “20 years ago, I was a young man, a very young man, for that matter.“I was silly, I was stupid, and I made a mistake … If I had my time again, of course I’d do different things, naturally. I absolutely know the impact this has had on my life, on my family’s life, on the business’s life.”Mr Curtis said redemption was not about an “‘f you’ situation”, but about setting an example for the future. “It’s more so about turning around and proving that redemption is based off making sure that you can set an example for your children, that you can continue to build a successful business, that you can be taken seriously to deliver on what is a fantastic opportunity,” he said.Mr Curtis made his debut on the AFR’s Rich List this year, with an estimated fortune of $1.25 billion making him the 126th richest person in Australia.His father, Nick Curtis, is a mining executive who founded infrastructure consultancy BBI.Mr Curtis now lives in Singapore with Ms Jacenko, founder and director of PR firm Sweaty Betty PR, and their two children.Their daughter Pixie has started two companies of her own, Pixie’s Fidgets, a toy company, and Pixie’s Bows, a hair accessory company.‘Outright euphoria’: Boom warning signs flagged ahead of float Morningstar senior market strategist Lochlan Halloway warned on Thursday that the Firmus float was showing hallmarks of the boom phase in the classic boom-and-bust cycle.“In Firmus, I see the hallmarks of the boom phase of Kindleberger’s cycle, if not outright euphoria,” he wrote in a note.In Kindleberger’s cycle, there is a five-phase recurring pattern to financial bubbles and busts: Displacement, Boom, Euphoria, Distress and Revulsion. “First, the wild increase in valuation in such a short period of time,” Mr Halloway said.Firmus was valued at $6.9 billion in April; after a further raise in August it was $15.5 billion. The banks running the float put their own numbers on it, with Morgan Stanley’s range implying an equity value as high as $85 billion.“Not bad for a start-up. That would be a 12-bagger in less than six months,” Mr Halloway said.Mr Halloway secondly pointed to debt and said the neoclouds were heavily geared.Firmus expects to carry about $US30 billion of debt, about six times its forecast $US5 billion of operating earnings for 2028.More Coverage‘Trouble’: Ominous spike not seen since 02Tamika Seeto‘Major event’: AI move to reshape marketTamika Seeto“Borrowed money alone does not make a bubble, and plenty of infrastructure is sensibly funded with debt. But credit is the common thread running through essentially every boom-and-bust cycle,” he says.“To be clear, I’m not joining those who have written Firmus off as all hype and no substance. Every business has a fair value, and we’ll have more to say once we’ve seen the prospectus.“For investors, what matters is how that fair value compares to the float price. The distance will tell us a good deal about where we are in Kindleberger’s cycle.” Read related topics:ASXJoin the conversationAdd your comment to this storyTo join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? 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