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Strategic Advisor·Data Centers

Rob Roy

Founder & CEO at Switch

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

RR
Why they matter

Founder-CEO who took Switch public, sold it for $11B, and is now steering its AI-factory pivot with NVIDIA and $20B in fresh capital.

Background

Rob Roy founded Switch in 2000 in Las Vegas after acquiring a former Enron facility with a unique fiber optic nexus, and has served as its Founder & CEO ever since. A self-taught inventor and design engineer, he holds hundreds of data center patents and is credited with pioneering hot-aisle containment, modular power delivery, and other design standards now used industry-wide.

Notable deals

  • 2017
    Led Switch through its IPO on the NYSE (ticker SWCH), raising roughly $531 million while retaining voting control via a multi-class share structure
  • 2022
    Sold Switch in an $11 billion take-private transaction to DigitalBridge Investment Management and IFM Investors
  • 2024
    Positioned Switch as an NVIDIA AI-ready colocation partner for DGX systems, underpinning the buildout of Switch's EVO AI Factory campuses
  • 2025
    Expanded Switch's borrowing base and revolving credit facilities by $10 billion (bringing total raised since 2024 to $20 billion) to fund AI and hyperscaler data center growth via his EVO AI Factory design

Call-prep brief

Background

  • Founded Switch in Las Vegas in 2000 after acquiring a former Enron facility with rare fiber connectivity; built it into a top-tier colocation/data center platform.
  • Holds 900+ patents on data center design (cooling, power delivery, containment) — positions himself as inventor-first, not just an operator.
  • Took Switch public (NYSE: SWCH, 2017) while retaining supervoting control; sold the company to DigitalBridge/IFM for $11B in 2022, remaining Founder & CEO post-take-private.

Current Focus

  • Driving Switch's pivot to AI infrastructure via the "EVO AI Factory" design (hybrid air/liquid cooling, 2MW+ per cabinet) aligned to NVIDIA's DGX/MGX roadmap.
  • Has helped raise ~$20B in financing since 2024 to fund AI-factory buildouts across five U.S. campuses (Tahoe Reno, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Grand Rapids, Austin/Houston) plus international SUPERNAP sites.

What He Cares About

  • Proprietary design/IP as a moat — heavily emphasizes patents and "invention" in his public narrative.
  • Retaining operational and strategic control even after ownership changes (multi-class shares pre-2022; still CEO post-acquisition).

Sensitivities

  • Switch has faced litigation with Nevada industrial park landlords/competitors (per Nevada Independent coverage) — worth knowing before referencing local disputes.
  • As a now privately-held, debt-financed platform, capital structure and leverage questions may be sensitive given the scale of recent raises.

Questions to Ask

  1. How is the EVO AI Factory design differentiated from hyperscaler in-house builds, and what's the customer pipeline behind the $20B raised since 2024?
  2. Post-DigitalBridge/IFM take-private, how has decision-making and capital allocation changed versus the public-company era?
  3. What's the long-term view on liquid-cooling retrofits at legacy SUPERNAP campuses versus greenfield AI-factory builds?

Outreach draft

Subject
Switch's AI Factory buildout — quick call?
Hi Rob, I've been following Switch's expansion into AI infrastructure — the EVO AI Factory rollout alongside NVIDIA and the $20B in financing since 2024 is a striking bet on where hyperscale demand is headed. I'm working with a deal team studying the data center colocation space and would value your perspective on how AI workloads are reshaping design economics, and how the DigitalBridge/IFM ownership structure has changed the way Switch invests in new capacity. Would you have 20 minutes in the coming weeks for a call? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

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