Retired Honeywell CEO David Cote revives 80-year-old Vertiv into AI-cooling powerhouse

In early 2020, retired industrialist David Cote teamed with Goldman Sachs to purchase Vertiv, an 80-year-old air-conditioning company, for $4 billion through a special-purpose acquisition company and took it public. Recognizing the looming demand for high-density AI compute, Cote refocused Vertiv on serving hyperscale cloud firms and invested heavily in research, raising R&D spending from 3% to 6% of sales. A partnership with British startup CoolTera and collaboration with Nvidia yielded a direct-to-chip liquid cooling system that keeps GPUs between 65 and 75 °F, cutting data-center footprint by up to 70%.

After a pandemic-induced dip, the company expanded production, opening a large plant in South Carolina and tripling capacity by 2029. Vertiv now commands the largest share of the emerging DTC market and competes with Schneider Electric and Eaton, while its market value has surged from under $11 billion to $109 billion.