Sir Nick Clegg holds 917,460 shares in Nscale, the British data centre developer preparing to float on Wall Street, a stake worth about $18m at the valuation the company is said to be seeking.

The former deputy prime minister was granted the shares as a reward for his role as a director of the Nvidia-backed company, which he joined six months ago. The holding represents about 0.12 per cent of Nscale’s stock.

Nscale is said to be seeking a valuation of about $35bn in its initial public offering. It was valued at about $14.6bn in March, when it raised $2bn in a funding round and appointed Clegg and Sheryl Sandberg to its board.

The company has not yet set a price for its shares or said how many it will issue. The issuance of new shares could dilute Clegg’s holding.

Clegg served as president of global affairs at Meta until last year. Filings showed that he sold about £24m worth of Meta shares between 2022 and 2024.

He and Sandberg, Meta’s former chief operating officer, both serve as directors of Nscale. Susan Decker, the former Yahoo president, joined the board at the same time in March.

In its prospectus, Nscale said: “Clegg’s extensive experience in global public policy, international government affairs, and technology industry leadership, as well as his deep relationships with governments and regulatory bodies worldwide, make him qualified to serve on our board of directors.”

Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s former head of artificial general intelligence deployment, has also been appointed to Nscale’s board.

Nscale filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday for a proposed listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker NSCL. Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are the lead bookrunners, according to the company’s announcement.

The prospectus revealed that Nscale lost $1bn in the first six months of this year, on revenues of $140.6m. The company said revenue was up more than tenfold on the same period last year, when it stood at $10.4m.

The company has attributed the scale of its losses to capital expenditure on expanding its data centres. Its contracts include a six-year deal worth $45bn with Anthropic and agreements with Microsoft worth $44bn running until 2033.

The filing also disclosed that the company’s founder, Josh Payne, is in line for performance-related payouts worth up to $350m. Payne, a 32-year-old former construction worker from Australia, will receive the share-based payments if the company hits various targets.

The potential award accounts for about 2.5 per cent of Nscale’s share capital. According to the prospectus, 40 per cent of the shares are linked to stock price targets and a further 40 per cent to the deployment of computing capacity, with vesting between 2028 and 2032, as reported in detail by Business Matters.

Payne’s compensation last year, including share awards, was £17.2m.

Nscale’s March funding round was backed by investors including Nvidia, Aker ASA and 8090 Industries. The $2bn raise was one of the largest in a half-year in which UK tech funding nearly doubled to $15.3bn, with AI infrastructure companies taking a large share of the capital.

The final value of Clegg’s stake will depend on the price Nscale sets for its shares and the number of new shares it issues in the offering.

About the author

Amy Ingham

Amy Ingham is a reporter at Business Matters, covering UK business news with a focus on breaking news, business policy, late payments and insolvency. She joined the magazine in 2026 after completing the NCTJ Diploma in Journalism at Harlow College’s journalism school. Her recent reporting includes British Steel’s nationalisation and its impact on SME suppliers, the decline in late payments by large firms, and Insolvency Service director disqualifications. Reach her at aingham@cbmeg.co.uk.

Advertisement

This article was written by

Follow

The Laughing Cow is no longer laughing and shoppers want to know what wiped the iconic grin off her face.

For the first time in more than 100 years, the laughing red cow has traded her trademark smile for a somber expression on select packages of The Laughing Cow Creamy Original cheese wedges rolling out nationwide.

The surprise makeover is part of a mysterious new campaign dubbed “The Not Laughing Cow,” but the company is keeping shoppers guessing about what wiped the smile from its mascot’s face.

SHOPPERS ARE GOING HOG WILD FOR PIGGLY WIGGLY’S RETRO PIG MERCHANDISE

The Laughing Cow replaced its famous smiling mascot with a serious expression on select Creamy Original packages. (Bel Brands USA / Fox News)

Bel Brands told Fox News Digital the frown is only temporary and promised the mystery will begin to unravel in the coming days.

“The Laughing Cow has spent more than 100 years reminding us not to take life too seriously. So when she suddenly gets serious, you pay attention,” Jamee Pearlstein, chief marketing officer of Bel Brands USA, U.S. Cheese, said in a news release.

COSTCO BRINGS BACK A FAN-FAVORITE FOOD COURT TREAT AFTER YEARS OFF THE MENU

The Not Laughing Cow packages are appearing in more than 4,700 stores across the continental United States. (Bel Brands USA / Fox News)

“Whatever finally got to her must be worth talking about. We’ll let her explain when she’s ready,” Pearlstein added.

The new packages feature the suddenly stone-faced cow alongside a QR code and the cryptic message, “We need to talk.” The code directs shoppers to TheNotLaughingCow.com, where the brand is inviting fans to speculate about the reason for her abrupt mood shift.

MCDONALD’S ONCE SOLD BELOVED COOKIES FEATURING FORGOTTEN CHARACTERS FROM THE CHAIN’S PAST

The Laughing Cow mascot sits alone in a diner as part of the mysterious “We need to talk” campaign. (Bel Brands USA / Fox News)

Videos on the campaign website lean into the mystery, showing the usually upbeat mascot looking downcast and alone. In one clip, she sits by herself in a diner. Another shows her somberly swinging alone as the words “The Laughing Cow stopped laughing” and “We need to talk” flash across the screen.

The serious-faced mascot has also appeared in parks, diners and across the brand’s social media channels, according to the company.

The company said shoppers began noticing the change even before the brand formally acknowledged it, with fans reaching out directly to ask what had happened to The Laughing Cow.

DANNON’S DECISION TO KILL BELOVED YOGURT SPARKS FAN REVOLT: ‘IT’S WHAT I GOT OUT OF BED FOR’

The usually cheerful Laughing Cow mascot appears stone-faced on a swing in the brand’s new campaign. (Bel Brands USA / Fox News)

“We’ve been excited to see that curiosity and conversation continue to build as more of The Not Laughing Cow packages appear on shelves,” Bel Brands told Fox News Digital.

The special packages are available in select markets in every state across the continental U.S. and can be found in more than 4,700 stores, according to the company.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Bel Brands stressed that the new expression is not a permanent logo or packaging change. 

Once consumers learn why the mascot stopped laughing, the company said it is confident she will eventually smile again and the packaging and social media channels will return to the joyful expression shoppers have known for more than a century.

The temporary redesign marks a dramatic break from an image shoppers have recognized for generations. The Laughing Cow said its smiling mascot has promoted optimism and encouraged consumers to see the positive side of life since 1921.

Yes. Corporate subscriptions are available for teams and organisations, with discounted rates as user numbers increase. Pricing starts from $1,625 + GST per user.
Get in touch
to discuss the right option for your organisation.

Business News subscriptions are used by executives, investors, consultants and professionals who need to stay informed and make better decisions about the WA market. When you subscribe you’ll get

• Unlimited access to WA’s most trusted business journalism
• Data & Insights — detailed profiles of WA companies, people, projects and deals
• MyBN — a personalised feed based on the companies, people and sectors you follow
• Special publications and industry reports
• Daily and weekly email newsletters

Data & Insights is a research tool built specifically for the WA market. It draws on more than 30 years of Business News reporting, updated regularly to reflect what’s happening now. Use it to:

• Look up detailed profiles of WA companies, including financials, directors and ownership
• Find decision-makers and track their career movements
• Research live and completed projects across WA industries
• Monitor deals, appointments and market activity
• Access industry rankings and league tables

Data & Insights is updated daily by our dedicated research team, which uses the latest announcements, ASX filings and editorial coverage to keep our person, company, list and project records up to date.

Business News welcome all opportunities to make our dataset accurate, complete and current, so if you have an update request, please email the team at
general@businessnews.com.au, and we’d be happy to assist.

MyBN
is part of every subscription. It’s your personalised view of Business News. You can follow the companies, people, sectors and projects that matter to you, and get a news feed and alerts tailored to your interests. You can save articles to read later and retain only what you need.

Only subscribers have full access to all content on the Business News website.

If staying informed about the WA economy is part of your job, and/or you’re looking for networking opportunities in WA, Business News is built for you.

Business News subscribers are:

• Executives and directors tracking competitors, clients and market movements
• Investors and advisers researching companies, deals and industry trends
• Consultants and professionals staying across sectors relevant to their clients
• Business owners looking for leads, context and market intelligence

Most Business News publications cover national or global markets. Business News is focused entirely on Western Australia, which means the journalism, the data and the intelligence are all built around WA companies, people and projects — not adapted from a national feed. Data & Insights, included with every subscription, combines more than 30 years of WA-specific editorial research with live business data. There’s no comparable product for the WA market.

The Morning Digest Email provides a comprehensive wrap of the major headlines, relevant to WA business, and includes with a snapshot of the overnight news covering oil, gold and ASX-listed companies.

The Afternoon Wrap Email focuses on the news covered by our team of journalists during the course of the working day, including exclusive stories and analysis, all of which relates to WA business and the local economy.

The BN Weekender Email contains a wrap of the Business News from the week that was, highlighting the top stories in each area of WA business.
Sign up for free.

We’re happy to help.
Get in touch
and our team will come back to you.

The world’s advanced economies including the UK and US need to cut borrowing and reduce debt levels following weeks of spiralling government interest costs, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

In an exclusive interview, Kristalina Georgieva said global economic shocks had been “pushing debt levels up like a staircase not to heaven” but that governments had taken “no action to contain that service cost”.

“[It’s] time to take that action,” she said, adding that “courage” was needed by politicians to take the necessary steps.

The intervention comes as government borrowing costs have surged in response to wars disrupting the supply of oil, which has fuelled inflation.

Higher global borrowing costs have hit the UK government in the run-up to UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s first Budget next month, with speculation building over potential tax and spending policies.

The latest figures show borrowing – the difference between tax receipts and government spending – was £18.3bn ($24.4bn) in August, almost a fifth higher than the year before and higher than official forecasts. Meanwhile debt interest for the month was the highest August figure since monthly records began in 1997.

Higher borrowing costs have also hit the US, the world’s largest economy, which has seen its debt pile surpass $40tn. The amount has doubled within the space of a decade, prompting concerns at home and abroad.

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Georgieva said the IMF’s message to advanced economies was that while there were economic factors occurring outside the control of governments, they did have command over domestic policies.

“There are these two things that must be done: bring debt levels down, put fiscal consolidation as a priority, and make sure that the central banks deliver on their mandate for price stability,” she said.

“It is impossible to stress strongly enough how critical it is to get the courage to take the steps that are necessary. These are politically tough steps to take, but necessary steps to take.”

Asked specifically about the UK’s higher interest costs compared to other major economies, Georgieva said its position was “not very different” from others.

She pointed to “fairly consistent action” on lowering debt and praised planning and housing reforms, adding that advanced economies “don’t have the cash” to boost growth and so had to rely on reforms to encourage the private sector to invest.

MELBOURNE — Reserve Bank of Australia Monetary Policy Board member Iain Ross has firmly dismissed widespread warnings of an impending wage-price spiral in the domestic economy, arguing that modern institutional safeguards, enterprise bargaining frameworks, and well-anchored inflation expectations make such an outcome highly unlikely.

Delivering a keynote address at the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, the former Fair Work Commission president addressed persistent speculation regarding wage-driven inflation. Pointing to historical precedent and contemporary economic data, Ross emphasized that current wage growth trajectories reflect workers recovering lost purchasing power rather than an unsustainable inflationary feedback loop that could force aggressive central bank tightening.

Historical Contrast and Structural Evolution

To contextualize current market conditions, Ross drew sharp distinctions between contemporary economic settings and the damaging wage-price dynamics observed during the severe stagflation episodes of the 1970s. During that period, global oil supply shocks intersected with centralized wage-setting mechanisms that automatically indexed pay rates across entire industrial sectors without corresponding productivity gains.

In contrast, Australia’s modern industrial relations framework relies heavily on enterprise-level bargaining and multi-year workplace agreements that staggered wage adjustments over extended periods. This structural transition prevents sudden, economy-wide wage shocks from spilling into consumer price indices, effectively severing the automatic transmission mechanism that characterized past inflationary cycles.

“The overall thesis is that there is no evidence of the emergence of a wage-price spiral in the present circumstances and recent data suggest such an outcome is unlikely,” Ross stated during his address. “Historical experience shows that an acceleration in nominal wages does not, by itself, indicate that a persistent wage-price spiral is taking hold.”

Anchored Inflation Expectations and Labour Market Realities

Central to Ross’s assessment is the role of long-term inflation expectations among households, businesses, and institutional investors. International empirical research across 31 advanced economies indicates that nominal wage acceleration rarely evolves into self-perpetuating price spirals unless medium-term inflation expectations become unanchored from central bank targets.

In Australia, underlying wage growth metrics have remained broadly aligned with the RBA’s target inflation band of 2 to 3 percent when combined with trend productivity growth. Furthermore, employer survey data and workplace bargaining outcomes confirm that business managers continue to treat current cost pressures as temporary adjustments rather than permanent structural increases requiring continuous price hikes.

Financial markets and institutional economists have monitored the RBA’s public commentary closely as the central bank navigates complex monetary policy choices. Ross noted that treating normal wage adjustments as immediate inflation threats risks over-tightening policy, which could needlessly dampen economic activity and suppress broader employment opportunities without delivering meaningful supply-side benefits.

Enterprise Bargaining as an Economic Shock Absorber

The address highlighted the institutional design of Australia’s Fair Work framework as a vital shock absorber for the national economy. By anchoring major workplace agreements to multi-year cycles, enterprise bargaining builds predictability into corporate cost structures while ensuring that pay increases are negotiated alongside operational efficiency measures.

Moreover, the presence of safety net mechanisms administered through annual wage reviews provides targeted relief for low-paid workers without triggering generalized spillover effects across higher-income pay brackets. This balanced architecture allows real wages to stabilize gradually following external supply shocks without creating sustained inflationary momentum.

In analyzing international data from recent years, Ross noted that temporary spikes in nominal wage growth across developed markets have routinely stabilized alongside broader disinflation trends. As global supply chain bottlenecks ease and energy markets normalize, wage dynamics naturally adjust back toward long-term historical averages without intervention-driven systemic shocks.

Structural Drivers Mitigating Wage-Price Spiral Risks

• Enterprise bargaining systems that stagger wage negotiations over multi-year periods, preventing economy-wide wage acceleration following single inflation spikes.
• Medium-term inflation expectations that remain firmly anchored within the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range of 2 to 3 percent.
• Modern workplace frameworks that decouple broad-based safety net increases from executive and high-income enterprise negotiations, containing generalized price spillovers.

Policy Implications for Monetary Trajectory

The detailed perspective provided by Ross provides valuable insight into the deliberations occurring within the RBA’s Monetary Policy Board as it evaluates future interest rate settings. By downplaying wage-price spiral concerns, the senior policymaker signaled that the board remains focused on broader macroeconomic fundamentals, including aggregate demand, household consumption, and global economic volatility.

As economic indicators unfold over the coming quarters, financial analysts expect the central bank to maintain a data-dependent stance that balances inflation control with labour market preservation. The reassurances regarding workplace bargaining structures suggest that central bank leadership views current wage settings as a manageable, stabilizing component of Australia’s broader economic recovery.