Scott Peterson '83, '87 MBA

Founder and CEO, Global Compute Infrastructure

Scott Peterson is the founder and CEO of Global Compute Infrastructure, a joint venture with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Global Compute is focused on investments in global data infrastructure and led by a team of international industry veterans with an unmatched investment track record. Global Compute acquires, develops and operates data infrastructure assets across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America, and most recently acquired Atman, the leading data center provider in Poland.

Peterson co-founded Digital Realty Trust (NYSE:DLR) in 2004. As chief investment officer, he was primarily responsible for all M&A activities and evaluating capital allocation decisions. As chair of the investment committee, he was responsible for overseeing all major development and leasing decisions and spent significant time managing international operations and asset management for the company. Under his leadership, Digital Realty became the largest global data center company in the world, growing to the eighth largest publicly traded REIT, with an enterprise value in excess of $35 billion. It was added to the S&P 500 in 2016.

Peterson conceived and executed the strategic plan to provide customers with a full spectrum of space, power and interconnection on a global scale by acquiring and developing more than 200 properties in over 35 markets in the U.S., Europe and Asia. From site selection, which fueled development, to executing new market expansions, his strategic M&A included the $7.5 billion acquisition of competitor DuPont Fabros and the nearly $2 billion acquisition of Telx, a colocation and interconnection company. In total, Peterson closed over $17 billion in data center transactions, transforming Digital Realty into the most significant global data center provider of its kind.

Prior to Digital Realty, Peterson held senior management positions with multiple real estate investment companies, including Digital Realty’s predecessor entity, GI Partners, where he served as managing director, and with GIC Real Estate. Peterson began his real estate career at LaSalle Partners and Trammell Crow Company, where he was active in acquisitions, development and asset management. In total, Peterson has closed investments totaling well in excess of $20 billion.

Mr. Peterson received a BA degree from Northwestern University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.