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The AI boom has kicked open a trillion-dollar door for American industry, yet the companies that own the land under America’s digital backbone are oddly lagging behind. Major public data-center landlords like Equinix and Digital Realty — the very firms that should be cashing in on this buildout — have seen their shares trail the broader market even as hyperscalers pour billions into infrastructure. This is not a failure of American demand; it’s a failure of business models and politics keeping capital from flowing where it’s needed.
Here’s the blunt truth: the REIT rules that once helped Main Street own America’s real estate are now shackling firms in a capital-intensive AI gold rush. By law many REITs must distribute the bulk of their taxable income as dividends, leaving little for the kind of aggressive reinvestment required to compete for hyperscale AI deals, so private and corporate players with fewer constraints are gobbling up the opportunity. If American companies are to win, management must stop treating shareholder frugality as an excuse and start finding market-friendly ways to finance growth.
Investors and executives should also recognize that risk appetite matters — and private operators are prepared to borrow deeper and move faster. Non-REIT developers and hyperscalers have been willing to take on higher leverage and more speculative builds to lock in future capacity, while public REITs have been hamstrung by conservative balance-sheet norms and cautious shareholders. This isn’t a sin; it’s a call to adapt: modernize corporate structures, form joint ventures, or use creative financing so these American landlords can compete.
Meanwhile, real obstacles beyond balance sheets are real and immediate: grid constraints, community pushback, and permitting slowdowns are choking projects and raising costs. Data-center operators are now coordinating to combat a growing energy backlash, and delays in power hookups are dragging returns for even the best-laid plans. Conservatives who believe in energy independence and streamlined permitting should be the loudest defenders of moving these projects forward — less red tape, more American energy development, and common-sense community engagement.
Some companies are already showing how to take risk and reap rewards: smaller, more nimble operators that bet big on AI capacity have multiplied market value and grabbed market share. That should be a lesson for the big landlords: stop hiding behind dividend orthodoxy and activist-proof excuses, and pursue partnerships or new capital vehicles that let them scale quickly. Shareholders who want stable payouts can still be respected, but boards must be honest about trade-offs and present clear, accountable strategies to capture national economic advantages.
Washington policymakers have a role too, and conservatives should push for policies that unleash private capital rather than smother it with more mandates. Prioritize grid upgrades, shorten permitting timelines, and offer neutral tax incentives for domestic AI infrastructure so American firms — not foreign interests or shadowy debt-fueled upstarts — lead the buildout. This is not corporate welfare; it’s national infrastructure: secure, high-paying jobs and technological leadership depend on making sensible, market-friendly choices now.
The stakes are simple and patriotic: either America’s institutions adapt and seize the AI supercycle, or they cede ground to whoever moves fastest. Investors, executives, and lawmakers should stop worshipping process over results and start enabling the capital flows that build real things and create real jobs. If we want to win the 21st century, let free markets, tough-minded leadership, and American energy power the buildout — not more excuses.
