Sydney money man Ben Madsen accused of wrongly moving shares in Firmus Technologies

Court documents claim James Madsen, brother of Archibald Capital boss Ben Madsen, did not pay for nearly 1.1 million shares in data centre darling Firmus.

Archibald Capital’s Ben Madsen. Picture: Peter Rae

Sydney money man Ben Madsen allegedly concocted a scheme to move nearly 1.1 million shares in Australia’s hottest data centre player Firmus Technologies out of the reach of his then business partner Simon Raftery, court documents claim.

Remagen Capital boss Mr Raftery has revealed that his attempts to regain control of the shares have been frustrated by a series of transactions moving them between Madsen and his brother and a “third party”, according to papers lodged with the NSW Supreme Court.

This is despite the shares allegedly being lumped with a company Mr Raftery and Mr Madsen jointly controlled, and which was deregistered in May 2023.

Mr Raftery’s lawyers claim the transactions made in the wake of the company’s deregistration are illegitimate and demanded the return of the shares, which have rapidly appreciated in value.

Firmus’ worth has soared on successive fundraising rounds from about $1.9bn to $6bn in its latest raise, although the price attached to shares in the unlisted business was not disclosed, making it difficult to value the parcel in dispute. The documents also reveal Mr Raftery and Mr Madsen’s former company, Meribel Investments, secured 1.02 million shares in Firmus in August 2022 by lending $10m to the data centre player when it was a minnow.

Firmus began life in 2019 as a bitcoin miner but shifted focus to meet the growing demand for data centres and clean energy.

The Firmus Technologies site at St Leonards in Launceston, Tasmania.

Under the terms of the 2022 loan, Mr Raftery and Mr Madsen’s company was handed shares. However, when Meribel Investments was deregistered on May 3, 2023, Mr Raftery argues those shares should have been vested with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Instead, the documents allege, Mr Madsen’s Dubai-based brother James transferred them to him. Mr Raftery’s lawyer alleges this was done in a $1.02m deal, but that no money was actually paid. He claims this transfer was “void and of no effect”.

The Firmus loan by Ben Madsen and Mr Raftery is a rare insight into their private lending activities. They also provided $150m in funding for the Wilkie Creek coal mine, a venture that lead to their falling out when it was placed in administration in December 2021.

Mr Raftery’s lawyers claim little was done with the Firmus shares after they were transferred from James Madsen to Ben Madsen. Between May 2023 and January 2024, Ben Madsen “represented” to Firmus he was the “true legal owner” of the shares, and that as a result they were registered in the name of the Archibald Capital boss, the court documents state.

Remagen Capital boss Simon Raftery.

Instead, Mr Raftery claims the shares are rightfully owned by Meribel Investments, which he controls.

The Remagen boss also claims a further 180,000 shares held in Firmus, on behalf of James Madsen, were transferred to a “third party” on September 16, 2025.

Mr Raftery claims the reinstatement of the registration of Meribel Investments by ASIC, under orders from Justice Ashley Black on November 11, should result in all Firmus shares being returned to him.

The court documents allege Ben Madsen breached his duties by transferring the shares, and that the transfers were “not in the best interests of the company”.

Further, Mr Raftery claims James Madsen knew or should have known that his brother had allegedly breached his “duty to the company”.

Ben Madsen stands to make a windfall from Firmus, amid plans to list the Singapore-based data centre company on the sharemarket, offsetting the $136m his Archibald Capital stands to lose lending to broke pubs entrepreneur Jon Adgemis. Mr Raftery wants his cut.

Firmus Technologies co-chief executives Oliver Curtis, left, and Tim Rosenfield.

Firmus announced plans to build a $73.3bn data centre, dubbed Project Southgate, in Tasmania alongside plans to set up operations in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Perth.

Firmus co-CEO Oliver Curtis initially invested $250,000 in the start-up. Curtis, the son of mining executive Nick Curtis, served one year in jail over an insider-trading scheme. He was released in 2017. His cousin, Tim Rosenfield, is co-CEO.

Originally published as Sydney money man Ben Madsen accused of wrongly moving shares in Firmus Technologies