The Tech Capital, a specialist trade publication focused on global digital infrastructure, has published the CFO 50: Class of 2026, ranking the 50 most influential finance leaders across the data centre, fibre, tower, satellite, and subsea cable sectors. Only sitting CFOs of infrastructure operators were eligible. Selection was based on capital raising, M&A activity, balance sheet strategy, and business growth impact over the past 12 months, with investors, advisors, and vendors excluded entirely.
Data Centre CFOs on the List
Data centres are the most capital-intensive segment among the five eligible categories. The full 50-name list is hosted on The Tech Capital's listing page.
CFO | Company | HQ / Region |
|---|---|---|
Michael Bradburn | AirTrunk | Australia (APAC) |
Meghan Baivier | Aligned Data Centers | United States |
Jeff Berson | QTS | United States |
Rafael Bomeny | ODATA | Brazil (LATAM) |
Fabio Cattaneo | Khazna Data Centers | UAE (MEA) |
Jared Day | Compass Datacenters | United States |
Marco Giradi | Elea Data Centers | Brazil (LATAM) |
Eva Sóley Guðbjörnsdóttir | atNorth | Iceland (EMEA) |
Niall Hannigan | Princeton Digital Group | Singapore (APAC) |
Joe Harar | EdgeConneX | United States |
Matthew Harris | Kao Data | United Kingdom (EMEA) |
Jonathon Hoo | AtlasEdge | United Kingdom (EMEA) |
Barry A Hytinen | Iron Mountain | United States |
Julian Johnson | Raxio Group | Africa |
Nicolas Le Brouster | StartCampus | Portugal (EMEA) |
Nelson Lim | STT GDC | Singapore (APAC) |
Clayton Malheiros | Scala Data Centers | Brazil (LATAM) |
Matt Mercier | Digital Realty | United States |
Sharif Metwalli | Vantage Data Centers | United States |
Dave Molloy | Echelon Data Centres | Ireland (EMEA) |
Owen Morris | CyrusOne | United States |
Raj Nana | Teraco | South Africa |
Daniel Newman | GDS Holdings | China (APAC) |
Lameck Muriithi Nyaga | PAIX Data Centres | Africa |
Kevin Ooley | DataBank | United States |
Heather Paduck | STACK Americas | United States |
Mohit Pande | CtrlS Data Centers | India (APAC) |
Madonna Park | Switch | United States |
Jim Perrie | Pure Data Centers | United States |
Johan Rydmark | EcoDataCenter | Sweden (EMEA) |
Scott Schneider | Cologix | Canada |
Daryl Seaton | Virtus Data Centres | United Kingdom (EMEA) |
Makoto Shimizu | NTT Global Data Centers | Japan (APAC) |
Werner Süffert | Ascenty | Brazil (LATAM) |
Michele Tagliatti | Verne Global | Iceland (EMEA) |
Sverre Lind Thornes | Green Mountain | Norway (EMEA) |
Vijay Tripathi | BDX Data Centers | India (APAC) |
Jenny Zhan | Chayora | China (APAC) |
Zoe Zhuang | Bridge Data Centers | Singapore (APAC) |
Australian Representation
AirTrunk's Michael Bradburn is the sole Australian-headquartered CFO on the Class of 2026 list. Bradburn joined AirTrunk as Chief Financial Officer on 28 February 2026, succeeding Prashant Murthy, who won The Tech Capital's Digital Infrastructure Finance Leader of the Year Award in 2024 and appeared on the publication's earlier CFO 50 editions. Bradburn's inclusion as the only Australian among 50 global peers is notable given Australia ranks fifth globally for data centre capacity, with 59 certified strategic facilities operating across nine cities. No ASX-listed data centre operator, neither NEXTDC nor Macquarie Technology Group, has a CFO on the list. The country's investable universe is projected to reach AU$40 billion by 2028.
Operators like NEXTDC and CDC Data Centres are deploying hundreds of millions in capital. Macquarie Technology Group recently secured a $200 million hybrid investment from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, the Australian Government's largest single technology infrastructure commitment through the NRFC.
As Australian platforms scale, the visibility of their finance leaders will matter for investor confidence. JLL's Asia Pacific report confirms the region is entering a multi-year infrastructure supercycle worth up to US$772 billion.
The Policy and Capital Context
The timing of this list coincides with significant policy shifts in Australia. The NSW Government published a consultation paper outlining five principles for data centre investment, with $29.4 billion in projects already in the State Significant Development pipeline. Nationally, Australia has published expectations for data centres and AI infrastructure covering energy transition, water use, data sovereignty, and compute access.
Why This Is Significant
Data centre CFOs carry outsized weight on this list given the sector's capital intensity — individual builds routinely exceed $500 million.
Australia has one confirmed representative (AirTrunk) despite being APAC's second-largest data centre market.
The CFO 50 will become a recurring benchmark, early inclusion is a reputational marker for operators seeking global capital.
Australian policy and capital momentum demands matching leadership visibility, with $29.4 billion in NSW pipeline alone and a $200 million NRFC sovereign deal, the financial decisions being made in Australia warrant global recognition.