Oliver Curtis, husband of socialite Roxy Jacenko, has canceled plans to list his AI company Firmus on the stock market after its valuation dropped significantly. Originally aiming for a $7.9 billion raise at $11 per share before an October 23 listing, the decision came due to market volatility and concerns over Curtis' insider trading conviction from nine years ago. Firmus will now seek funding from private investors instead of proceeding with the public offering.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Oliver Curtis, husband of socialite publicist Roxy Jacenko, scrapped plans for his AI company Firmus Technologies' initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), after its expected valuation plummeted from an initial $43 billion to around $30 billion. Firmus, founded in 2019 by Curtis and co-founder Tom Rosenfield, was set to list at a price of $11 per share but due to lackluster investor interest, the company's bankers had already cut the institutional offer price to $8.75 before scrapping the listing entirely on October 6th. Despite securing deals with tech giants like OpenAI, Nvidia, and Meta in September, Firmus will now seek private funding from wealthy investors to continue its ambitious plans to build AI data centers across Australia and Asia. The company's decision came amid market volatility and concerns over the valuation given its early stage development—Firmus operates two existing data centers with seven more contracted but only 46 megawatts of computing capacity currently operational out of a total committed capacity of 912 megawatts. Community opposition, particularly in northern Tasmania where Firmus had proposed building an AI factory, also likely played a role in the IPO's failure. The scrapped listing, which would have been one of Australia's largest since Telstra's $46 billion IPO in 1997, underscores broader challenges faced by AI startups seeking to go public amid recent market uncertainties and regulatory concerns.
Written for “Firmus Float Troubles” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.
Oliver Curtis, the husband of socialite publicist Roxy Jacenko, has called off plans to float his AI company Firmus on the stock market after its expected valuation plunged by billions of dollars.
asserted
valuation → call → dollars
Firmus has ambitious plans to build data centres filled with powerful computer chips that can train AI models and power tools such as ChatGPT.
asserted
that → have → ChatGPT
Firmus was on track for Australia's second-biggest stock market debut at $11 a share, behind Telstra, before its planned October 23 listing was scrapped.
'Having considered recent market volatility and prevailing market conditions, the board determined that the terms on which the offer could proceed would not appropriately reflect the strength of the company's business and long-term growth outlook,' the company said.
uncertain
company → scrap → outlook
'The board therefore concluded that proceeding with the offer was not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders.'
Firmus will now seek fresh funding from wealthy private investors to bankroll its ambitious plans to build AI data centres across Australia and Asia.
The company has already attracted billions of dollars from major US investors, including chipmaking giant Nvidia and investment firm Blackstone.
asserted
company → conclude → Nvidia
Firmus had hoped to raise $7.9 billion by Thursday ahead of its planned October 23 stock market debut, but the listing was called off amid concerns from one fund manager about Curtis' insider trading conviction.
asserted
listing → hop → conviction
Firmus has deployed smaller AI computing facilities but has yet to demonstrate it can build and operate hyperscale data centres on the scale underpinning its multibillion-dollar expansion plans.
asserted
it → deploy → plans
The pull out of the float comes just months after Curtis marked the ninth anniversary of his release from Cooma Correctional Centre after being granted parole following his conviction for conspiracy to commit insider trading.
asserted
Curtis → come → trading
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.
asserted
Curtis → convict → sentence
'20 years ago, I was a young man, a very young man, for that matter,' Mr Curtis told Rampart's Joe Aston this year.
asserted
Curtis → tell → matter
'I was silly, I was stupid, and I made a mistake …
asserted
I → make → mistake
If I had my time again, of course I'd do different things, naturally.'
asserted
I → have → things
He was found guilty over confidential tip-offs provided by his old school friend John Joseph Hartman.
asserted
He → find → friend
Hartman was an equities dealer at Orion Asset Management, which managed billions of dollars of investments.
asserted
which → manage → investments
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.
uncertain
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.
uncertain
Hartman → find → May
Curtis used the tip-offs to make trades before Orion carried out its planned trades.
asserted
Orion → use → trades
He was 30 when he was convicted, but the sentencing judge said he was just 21 when he committed the offence.
asserted
he → convict → offence
Before they were convicted, the pair drank at city bars and made a total of $1.4million from the illegal trades, splashing the proceeds on luxury items and trips.
asserted
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.
asserted
Hartman → live → time
Hartman bought a $60,000 Mini Cooper and a $20,000 Ducati motorcycle.
asserted
Hartman → buy → Cooper
They took their friends on holidays to gamble in Las Vegas casinos, and paid for strippers at Cirque du Soleil.
asserted
They → take → Soleil
They took a helijet from Vancouver to ski in Whistler, Canada because they would be 'too hungover to drive'.
asserted
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.
asserted
mates → come → lifestyle
In August 2008, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission began scrutinising Hartman's stockbroking account after it detected illegal trading.
asserted
it → begin → trading
On January 13, 2009, Hartman's broker froze the $2.6m account, making Hartman believe he had been caught red-handed.
asserted
he → freeze → account
Five days later, he rang his father, moved out of the Bondi flat and quit his job.
asserted
he → ring → job
The following day, he confessed everything to ASIC investigators.
asserted
he → confess → investigators
Hartman was jailed aged 25 in 2010 and served 15 months in prison, and Curtis' case finally went to trial in 2016.
asserted
case → jail → 2016
The Aporia
