Ex-Bankers Who Faced Wipeout Make $850 Million From AI Pivot (1)

For a few years, Daniel and Will Roberts’ Bitcoin-mining venture was a wild ride. The former Macquarie Group Ltd. bankers took IREN Ltd. public in November 2021, just as the pandemic-fueled crypto mania peaked.

The following year, the company’s shares plunged 96%, leaving the Australian brothers hanging on to their decimated stock. Eighteen months ago, they pivoted — steering the business away from crypto and toward the surging demand for data centers and computing power driving the artificial intelligence boom.

The move has paid off. This week IREN signed a roughly $9.7 billion deal with Microsoft Corp. to ...