AirTrunk gives employees $22m bonus ahead of acquisition by US private equity giant

A company in its boom phase has given hundreds of its workers a whopping $65,000 bonus but that wasn’t the only perk they received.

An Australian data company has just given its 330 employees a spectacular $22 million bonus payout as the company celebrates its blockbuster acquisition by a US private equity giant.

The $24 billion deal, equating to roughly $65,000 per worker, is a massive leap from AirTrunk’s $3 billion valuation in 2020 when it was backed by Macquarie Asset Management and PSP Investments.

The acquisition, by Blackstone, has also sent founder and CEO Robin Khuda into the upper echelons of Australia’s rich list.

AirTrunk specialises in building and running massive data centres where companies store and manage their digital information.

The huge facilities centres are crucial for businesses that rely on the cloud, digital content, or large-scale operations, especially across the Asia-Pacific and Japan regions.

Companies like AirTrunk are often viewed as the “powerhouse” behind the internet. They provide a secure, reliable, and efficient space for major companies that are data safe and easily accessible.

Data centres are designed to handle vast amounts of data while using technology that minimises energy and water consumption, making them more eco-friendly.

AirTrunk has just given its 330 employees a spectacular $22 million bonus payout as the company celebrates its blockbuster $24 billion acquisition by US private equity giant Blackstone.

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What has made AirTrunk so attractive to investors is its ability to build their facilities at a lower cost than most competitors.

This allows the company to offer scalable and sustainable solutions to customers — meaning as businesses grow, AirTrunk can expand and adapt their services to meet new needs.

Known for his big-hearted approach to leadership, Mr Khuda has endeavoured to show that he truly values his team.

Robin Khuda, AirTrunk Founder and CEO. Britta Campion / The Australian

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Earlier this year, he flew most of AirTrunk’s workforce to Bali for a company conference where they teamed up to assemble bikes for charity while fostering collaboration and strategic thinking.

The bonuses are on top of annual bonuses and profit-sharing arrangements for over 100 senior employees.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Khuda revealed his ambitious plan to scale AirTrunk into a $100 billion business.

AirTrunk specialises in building and running massive data centres where companies store and manage their digital information.

He pointed to the trillion-dollar cloud infrastructure investments being made by major clients like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, all racing to dominate the AI boom.

“We’ve always been ambitious,” Mr Khuda explained.

“Of course, we got the benefit of Covid, which accelerated the migration to the cloud. Now with AI, there’s a huge amount of growth coming up. We were in the right place at the right time.”

Mr Khuda originally came to Australia as an 18-year-old from Bangladesh to study accounting at the University of Technology Sydney, before going on to secure his MBA in finance from the Manchester Business School in the UK and further studies in the US.