Billionaire investor Kevin O'Leary's ambitious $100 billion data center project, known as the Stratos Project, is encountering significant opposition in northwestern Utah. The project, backed by the Canadian celebrity investor from "Shark Tank," has drawn criticism not only for its sheer scale but also for the manner in which it was approved. O'Leary had touted it as potentially one of the largest data centers globally.
Backlash and Admission of Mistakes
As protests intensify, O'Leary has admitted to a lack of transparency in the initial rollout. In an interview with local ABC affiliate ABC4.com, he acknowledged missteps. "Here's what I think now at this point, I think the two of us [O'Leary and Adams] really screwed this up initially," O'Leary said. "I think we made huge mistakes. We made some assumptions that were just not right."
O'Leary expressed surprise at the public backlash, having expected excitement over his $15 billion investment in the local economy. "We really screwed it up," he stated. "We pissed off a lot of people, and that's not the way I do business. That's not."
Commitment to Transparency
He emphasized his commitment to the community of Box Elder, saying, "I care about the people of Box Elder. I mean, they're my partners in this because I want to employ a bunch of them, thousands of them, and there's 66,000 people there, and I want to pay taxes there. And I want to be a contributor to the community there and build something I'm very proud of, and I want them to be proud of it too, so the only way to do that is for me to communicate the process transparently."
Scaling Down the Project
Following the pushback, O'Leary agreed to scale down the project. In a letter to Utah Senate President J Stuart Adams, he committed to removing 19,430 acres in and around the Locomotive Springs area, recognizing the Locomotive Springs Waterfowl Management Area. This response came after Adams called for a 75% area reduction. O'Leary stated, "The practical effect is that the project's built industrial and data-center footprint is brought in line with the scale your letter contemplates while the broader expansion area remains available to anchor advanced manufacturing and defense-industrial uses over a 30-year horizon. We are aligned with the standards you have set."
He also highlighted "industry-leading water-use technology" and pledged to dedicate any excess water to the Great Salt Lake.
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