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Satirical cartoon: a North Dakota farmer yanks a giant orange extension cord from his little barn signed N.D. POWER, while an anxious robot and a robot dog help haul it across the prairie and plug it straight into a towering glowing AI FACTORY on the horizon. A tabby cat watches from the barn roof.
ZIMBO'S TAKE“THE PRAIRIE PLUG”

Wes Cummins

NORTH DAKOTA POWER → AI FACTORIES

UPDATED Oct 5, 2026

THE DEAL

Cummins spent decades in technology investing, took over a revived public company, and steered it from crypto mining into high-performance data centers.

SOURCES: Applied Digital / SECApplied DigitalApplied Digital / SECApplied DigitalApplied Digital / SEC

AT A GLANCE

EDUCATION
Washington University in St. Louis · Finance and accounting · BSBAApplied Digital / SEC

THE ARCHIVE

History · cartoons · headlines
THE TIMELINE7 sourced events

THE HEDGE-FUND GUY TURNED AI LANDLORD

Cummins spent decades in technology investing, took over a revived public company, and steered it from crypto mining into high-performance data centers. Now Applied Digital is the landlord: a $7B, 15-year CoreWeave lease in North Dakota, 1.4 GW under construction and another 1.7 GW being marketed.

  1. 2002

    HE STARTS WITH ELEVEN YEARS IN CAPITAL MARKETS

    Applied Digital's SEC materials list Cummins as president of B. Riley & Co. from 2002 through 2011, part of a career built around technology investing and capital markets.

    SOURCES: Applied Digital / SECreported

  2. 2012

    HE LEADS TECH INVESTING AT NOKOMIS (2012–2020)

    Cummins joined Nokomis Capital in 2012 and led technology investing there through 2020.

    SOURCES: Applied Digital / SECreported

  3. 2020

    HE LAUNCHES 272 CAPITAL

    Cummins founded 272 Capital, an investment adviser focused on technology hardware, software, and services, before selling it to B. Riley Financial in 2021.

    SOURCES: Applied Digitalfirst-partyApplied Digital / SECreported

  4. 2021

    THE PUBLIC COMPANY TURNS INTO APPLIED BLOCKCHAIN

    In 2021 the company changed its name to Applied Blockchain and began the next-generation data-center business that Cummins would steer as chairman and chief executive.

    SOURCES: Applied Digitalfirst-partyApplied Digital / SECreported

  5. Nov 17, 2022

    THE BLOCKCHAIN NAME COMES OFF THE BUILDING

    Applied Blockchain formally became Applied Digital as the company broadened beyond crypto mining toward high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other compute-heavy uses.

    SOURCES: Applied Digitalfirst-party

  6. Jun 2, 2025

    COREWEAVE SIGNS A 15-YEAR LEASE IN NORTH DAKOTA

    Applied Digital announced two roughly 15-year leases to deliver 250 MW of critical IT load to CoreWeave at its Ellendale campus, with about $7 billion in anticipated lease revenue.

    SOURCES: Applied Digitalfirst-party

  7. Aug 2026

    THE AI-LANDLORD PIPELINE HITS GIGAWATT SCALE

    Applied Digital reported about 1.4 GW of capacity under construction and another 1.7 GW being marketed across multiple states as it expanded its AI-factory platform.

    SOURCES: Applied Digitalfirst-party