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Oxford dropout and two Fluidstack co-founders become billionaires after AI startup reaches $18B valuation. Jamie Cox, an Oxford University dropout, and his fellow Fluidstack co-founders Gary Wu and Cesar Maklary have become billionaires after their AI infrastructure startup was valued at more than US$18 billion. Fluidstack recently closed a previously unreported US$1.5 billion funding round led by quantitative trading firm Jane Street, Forbes reported on Sept. 3, citing people familiar with the deal. The financing more than doubled the company's valuation from US$7.5 billion earlier this year and pushed the fortunes of Wu, 31, Cox, 29, and Maklary, 29, into billionaire territory. Based on corporate filings detailing their ownership stakes, the three would have ranked among Europe's youngest self-made billionaires had Fluidstack remained headquartered in Britain. The company is now based in New York. At its current valuation, Fluidstack would also rival German defense technology firm Helsing, valued at US$18 billion in July, as one of Europe's most valuable AI startups. | Cesar Maklary, Jamie Cox and Gary Wu, co-founders of AI infrastructure startup Fluidstack. Photo from LinkedIn | Fluidstack's origins date back to Oxford University, where Cox, then studying classics, met Wu, an economics student. The pair founded the company in 2017 after noticing that AI researchers often struggled to access computing power while high-performance graphics processing units, or GPUs, owned by gamers frequently sat idle. Cox dropped out of Oxford the following year and became a Thiel Fellow, joining a program created by billionaire investor Peter Thiel to support young people pursuing projects outside traditional education. Maklary, who had previously worked in aerodynamics for a Formula One team, joined Fluidstack in 2020. The startup initially operated as a marketplace connecting owners of unused GPUs with AI researchers seeking computing capacity. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it shifted toward renting larger pools of GPUs from companies and university laboratories. Demand surged after the launch of ChatGPT triggered a boom in AI computing infrastructure. Fluidstack's revenue rose from US$1.8 million in 2022 to US$30 million in 2023 and US$66.2 million in 2024. It has since expanded into building and operating large-scale AI infrastructure for customers including Meta, Mistral, Poolside and Black Forest Labs. The company gained wider attention in February 2025 when French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans for Fluidstack to develop a €10 billion (US$11.5 billion), one-gigawatt AI data center in northern France. Fluidstack later withdrew from the project as it shifted its focus toward the U.S. after securing larger contracts there, Bloomberg reported. Its biggest expansion has come through Anthropic, the developer of AI chatbot Claude. Anthropic announced a US$50 billion investment in U.S. computing infrastructure in November and selected Fluidstack to build custom data centers in New York and Texas. Fluidstack is also involved in Anthropic's planned deployment of up to one million Google Tensor Processing Units, or TPUs, specialized chips designed for AI workloads. By building infrastructure for the project, Fluidstack appears to be the first publicly known operator of TPU data centers outside Google itself, according to Forbes. An investor report projects that Fluidstack will manage up to 1.3 gigawatts of capacity across more than 10 sites this year, while revenue is expected to reach US$660 million, more than triple the US$200 million projected for 2025. The startup has hired more than a dozen former Tesla and SpaceX employees over the past year, according to LinkedIn updates. Fluidstack has also told prospective employees that it aims to secure 50 gigawatts of power capacity by 2030. One job listing says the company intends to sign more computing capacity this decade than any other company.

Jane Street bleeds, CLARITY Act shifts (6h). The crypto landscape is currently defined by a clash between institutional caution and regulatory momentum. While traditional finance giants like Jane Street face massive drawdowns, the political tide for digital assets appears to be turning with key law enforcement groups softening their stance on the CLARITY Act. In a stark reminder of market volatility, quant giant Jane Street reported its first monthly loss in a decade, shedding $15 billion in July due to failed AI bets and semiconductor selloffs. Meanwhile, regulatory dynamics are shifting; the National Sheriffs' Association has moved from opposition to neutrality on the CLARITY Act, a significant development that could clear legislative hurdles. On the policy front, the IMF confirmed El Salvador used no public funds for Bitcoin acquisitions since June 2025, validating its private donation model. Market sentiment remains mixed. Fidelity's research chief warns against calling a bottom, keeping November 2026 as a potential low date despite recent rallies. In altcoin news, Binance listed MARSCOIN, marking its first memecoin spot listing in a year, while privacy protocols like Tornado Cash continue to be heavily utilized in laundering investigations. Market read: The CLARITY Act's shifting political support may provide a tailwind for regulatory clarity narratives over the next sessions. However, institutional caution from firms like Fidelity suggests Bitcoin may face resistance near current levels before any sustained breakout.