Digital Realty

GI Partners, a private equity fund formed in February 2001, later contributed 20 properties to Digital Realty. Digital Realty was formed in March 2004 and operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT).⁠[1]

Amendment No. 4 to the company’s Form S-11, filed October 26, 2004, set out an IPO of 20 million common shares to list on the New York Stock Exchange as DLR. The company owned and managed technology-related real estate, with Michael F. Foust as CEO and A. William Stein as CFO.⁠[2]

The company completed its IPO in November 2004.⁠[1]

On March 17, 2014, Digital Realty announced that Michael F. Foust had departed as CEO, effective immediately, and would not stand for re-election to the board. The board named A. William Stein, CFO and chief investment officer, as interim CEO and planned to retain an executive search firm to find a successor.⁠[3]

In November 2014, Stein was named permanent CEO. During his interim tenure the company had begun pruning its real estate portfolio for the first time and partnering with service providers on packaged offerings.⁠[4]

On October 9, 2015, Digital Realty acquired Telx Holdings, Inc. (Telx) for approximately $1.9 billion.⁠[5]

On May 13, 2016, S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) is a global index provider that compiles and licenses benchmark indices including the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. It was formed in 2012 by combining McGraw-Hill’s S&P index business with the Dow Jones Indexes business held by a joint venture of CME Group and Dow Jones, and it is now the index business division of S&P Global, which holds about 73% of the interest.Open the full entry announced that Digital Realty Trust would join the S&P 500S&P 500The S&P 500 is a U.S. large-cap equity index compiled by S&P Dow Jones Indices. It includes 500 leading companies, covers about 80% of available market capitalization and is described by S&P DJI as “widely regarded as the best single gauge of large-cap U.S. equities.”Open the full entry after the close of trading on May 17, replacing Time Warner Cable, which was being acquired by Charter Communications, in the Financials sector and the Specialized REITs sub-industry.⁠[6]

The addition made Digital Realty one of two S&P 500 companies dedicated solely to data center services, the other being EquinixEquinixEquinix, Inc. is a digital infrastructure company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that operates data centers and interconnection services worldwide.Open the full entry, which had joined the index in March 2015.⁠[7]

On July 5, 2016, the company completed the acquisition of a European portfolio of eight carrier-neutral data centers for $818.9 million.⁠[5]

On September 14, 2017, the company completed its all-stock acquisition of DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. (DFT) for equity consideration of approximately $6.2 billion.⁠[8]

On December 20, 2018, the company’s Brazilian subsidiary completed the acquisition of Ascenty from private equity firm Great Hill Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion, net of cash purchased.⁠[8]

In March 2019, the company formed a joint venture with Brookfield Infrastructure to own Ascenty, with Brookfield investing about $702 million for roughly 49% of the equity, and Ascenty was deconsolidated on March 27, 2019.⁠[9]

On October 29, 2019, the company agreed to an exchange offer for all shares of InterXion Holding N.V.⁠[9]

On March 12, 2020, the company completed the Interxion combination for total equity consideration of approximately $7.0 billion, including cash assumed.⁠[10]

About 70.86 million InterXion shares, approximately 92.3% of those outstanding, were tendered in the exchange offer. CEO A. William Stein said, “We are pleased to have closed our combination with Interxion.”⁠[11]

In January 2021, Digital Realty said it was moving its headquarters from San Francisco, its base since its 2004 founding, to Austin, Texas, while keeping a significant presence in the San Francisco Bay Area. It then operated more than 30 data centers in Texas.⁠[12]

On August 1, 2022, Digital Realty completed its acquisition of a majority interest in Teraco, a carrier-neutral data center and interconnection services provider in South Africa, in a transaction valuing Teraco at approximately $3.5 billion. Teraco CEO Jan Hnizdo said Africa was poised to remain a high-growth, high-demand area for data center solutions.⁠[13]

On December 13, 2022, Digital Realty appointed Andy Power as CEO and a director, effective immediately. Power, formerly a managing director at Bank of AmericaBank of AmericaBank of America Corporation is a bank holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, with four segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth & Investment Management, Global Banking and Global Markets.Open the full entry Merrill Lynch, had been CFO since 2015 and president since November 2021. A. William Stein departed as CEO, resigned from the board and remained with the company through year end.⁠[14]

Jordan Sadler, Digital Realty’s senior vice president of investor relations, said Stein was terminated “without cause” under his employment contract. The company gave no reason.⁠[15]

On September 10, 2024, a fire broke out at Digital Realty’s SIN11 data center in Singapore. The company said a fire alarm was triggered at 0745 local time, all on-site personnel were evacuated by 0815 and no one was injured. Alibaba Cloud services in its Singapore Availability Zone C were disrupted, which Alibaba attributed to an explosion of lithium batteries.⁠[16]

In 2025, Digital Realty had total operating revenues of about $6.113 billion (2024: about $5.555 billion) and net income available to common stockholders of about $1.268 billion, or $3.58 per diluted share (2024: about $562 million, or $1.61). On February 5, 2026, it guided to 2026 total revenue of $6.600 billion to $6.700 billion.⁠[17]

As of December 31, 2025, the company had 310 data centers, 89 of them held in unconsolidated entities, and 4,282 full-time employees. Its fiscal 2025 10-K lists principal executive offices in Dallas, Texas.⁠[18]

On March 30, 2026, Digital Realty announced the final close of its inaugural U.S. hyperscale data center fund with $3.25 billion of total equity commitments. The company retains a 20% interest in the fund’s portfolio, which covers markets including Northern Virginia, Santa Clara, Dallas, Atlanta, Charlotte and New York.⁠[19]

In the first quarter of 2026, Digital Realty had total revenues of about $1.635 billion and net income available to common stockholders of $0.46 per share. It acquired Telepoint, a data center provider in Sofia, Bulgaria, for about $76.6 million. The release lists the corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas.⁠[20]