Vertiv stumbled out of its IPO, fixed its pricing — and rode AI cooling to $109B

What was changed

Retired Honeywell CEO David Cote and Goldman Sachs considered more than 1,000 companies before choosing Vertiv, an 80-year-old data-center cooling business, taking it public in early 2020. COVID hit three weeks after the NYSE debut, and the ensuing surge in orders exposed a costlier problem: Vertiv had been underpricing its equipment by 20 to 30 per cent. Profits cratered, and by early 2023 the stock had fallen roughly 55 per cent from its previous high.

Cote, who had delivered shareholder returns 150% greater than the S&P 500 across 15 years running Honeywell, threw himself into day-to-day management while the board installed a new CEO. Vertiv repaired its operations, kept investing in direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and acquired cooling startup CoolTera in late 2023 — just as demand from AI data centres took off and production ramped to meet it.

The recovery carried Vertiv's market capitalisation from under $11 billion at listing to $109 billion. For Cote — fired by Jack Welch from GE in 1999 with no explanation given, and a Fortune 500 CEO three years later — it was the second time a defining setback proved temporary.

Why it worked

Underpricing by 20–30% turned a demand surge into a profit collapse once COVID disrupted the debut.

Management repaired pricing and operations while doubling down on direct-to-chip liquid cooling.

The CoolTera acquisition put Vertiv exactly where AI data-centre demand was heading.

What can be applied

A pricing error found early is a fix; ignored through a demand boom it is a crisis. What saves you is owning the thing customers will need next.

Aftermath

Vertiv's market value reached $109 billion as AI data-center buildouts drove cooling demand, with Cote serving as executive chairman after a Honeywell tenure that ended in 2018.