Josh Payne
Founder and CEO, Nscale
He dropped out of high school to work three years as a coal miner in Australia; now his AI data-centre company is going public at a target $30 billion valuation.
- Born
- 1993, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
- Now
- Founder and CEO, Nscale
- Studied
- No degree listed
Interesting facts
- Early start
Left school at 17 and took a job at a coal mine in Australia, with no university degree.
regolith.com - Before AI
Spent about three years underground on twelve-hour shifts, reading entrepreneurship books on his breaks.
entrepreneurplus.co.uk - Detour
His first big company mined bitcoin on cheap hydropower in Norway and the US, reaching 330 megawatts and $110 million raised by late 2023.
europeancapitalist.com - Numbers
Filed to list Nscale on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2026, two years and four months after spinning it out.
certifiedstrategic.com - Numbers
Nscale says it has signed $103 billion in contracts, but as of August 2026 had delivered 55 megawatts of computing power.
europeancapitalist.com - In their words
Predicts the biggest companies of the next five years will be AI-native, "and I very much intend to be one of them."
time.com
Career
- NscaleFounder and CEO2023 to now
- Arkon EnergyFounder and Executive Chairman2020–2023