Nick Clegg stands to gain £30m from Nscale datacentre flotation

Nscale reported $1bn loss on $140m revenue over six months

Former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg could make approximately £30m from the planned flotation of Nscale, the UK-based datacentre startup where he serves as a board member.

Clegg owns more than 917,000 shares in the company, representing a 0.12% stake. At a reported target valuation of up to $35bn, that holding could be worth about $42m. Nscale filed papers for a US stock market listing in New York on 18 September and could make its stock market debut before the end of the year.

Fellow board member Sheryl Sandberg, a former Meta executive, holds a 0.25% stake that could be worth about $88m at the $35bn valuation — a figure reported by the Financial Times this month. However, Nscale was most recently valued at $14.6bn in a funding round, which would imply lower valuations of about $18m for Clegg’s stake and $37m for Sandberg’s.

Both Clegg and Sandberg receive an annual retainer of $60,000 for their board service. Forbes has estimated Sandberg’s overall wealth at $2.4bn. Clegg has made about £24m from sales of shares in Meta, where he was formerly the president of global affairs.

Nscale reported a loss of $1bn in the six months to 30 June, on revenues of $140m. In the flotation document, the company said its losses reflected the “substantial investments” it has made in a “highly capital intensive” business. The Telegraph first reported Clegg’s potential gain from the float.

Josh Payne, Nscale’s chief executive, 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. “Nscale is well positioned to serve this demand as a trusted, sovereign-capable platform,” Payne said. “This is particularly true in Europe, where the need for sovereign AI infrastructure is especially acute, and where our British domicile positions us as a natural, trusted partner.”

European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde and former EU competition head Margrethe Vestager have both called for Europe to develop more of its own AI infrastructure.

Nscale operates five datacentres in Europe and has a further 12 under different phases of construction, including in the United States. The Guardian reported earlier this year that one Nscale project in Loughton, Essex, is an undeveloped scrapyard. The company has been approached for comment.