✦ Core Scientific: The Partner It Could Not BuyThin moat

CoreWeave (CRWV) — the future bets

The bet on owning the buildings failed at the vote: the seller's shareholders would not take CoreWeave stock, so CoreWeave still rents.

The structural bet was vertical integration, and it failed at the vote. In July 2025 CoreWeave agreed to buy Core Scientific, a former bitcoin miner turned data-center operator, in an all-stock deal worth about $9 billion, as part of its push to secure the energy and data-center capacity it needs. On 30 October 2025 Core Scientific's shareholders rejected it and the merger agreement was terminated; its largest active shareholder, Two Seas Capital, had objected to the process, structure and valuation, and the proxy adviser ISS had recommended voting against.1

The Core Scientific deal, 2025July 2025all-stock deal,about $9BBefore the voteTwo Seas opposes; ISSrecommends against30 Oct 2025shareholders reject itSame daymerger agreementterminatedCNBC, 30 October 2025
The seller's shareholders would not take CoreWeave stock at a fixed ratio, so the plan to own the buildings ended in four months.

The objection is the instructive part. The fixed exchange ratio left Core Scientific's owners exposed to swings in CoreWeave's share price, and they judged their business worth more than the CoreWeave stock on offer. A company whose equity has been its cheapest currency found a seller that would not take it. CoreWeave's chief executive said the two would continue their commercial partnership.3

So CoreWeave still rents. It has kept building instead: gross property and equipment rose to $52.6 billion at June 2026 from $33.9 billion six months earlier, and capital expenditure was $14.1 billion in the first half of 2026 against $3.9 billion a year before,2 much of it inside buildings owned by others.

Vertical integration is only a moat if it lowers the cost of what customers buy, and CoreWeave has not yet been able to test that. Watch the split between owned and leased capacity in each annual report, and whether CoreWeave tries again for a landlord; until one of those moves, the building owners keep their return.

Moat trajectory: Narrowing

The all-stock deal to own Core Scientific's data centers was voted down in October 2025; CoreWeave keeps building capacity largely in buildings others own.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Investments in joint ventures, first half
$550M in H1 2026, from $32M

With the Core Scientific deal voted down, part-ownership of capacity is coming through joint ventures; this line rising is ownership by another route.

Source: CoreWeave Form 10-Q, quarter ended 30 June 2026 ↗
References
  1. ReportedCoreWeave agreed to buy Core Scientific in an all-stock deal worth about $9 billion; on 30 October 2025 Core Scientific's shareholders rejected it and the merger agreement was terminated.
    CNBC, 30 October 2025 — Core Scientific shareholders reject the $9 billion all-stock CoreWeave offer and the merger agreement is terminated; Two Seas Capital objected to process, structure and valuation, and ISS recommended against; CoreWeave's CEO says the companies will continue their commercial partnership — October 2025 · publ. 2025-10-30 · source ↗
  2. ReportedGross property and equipment rose to $52.6 billion at June 2026 from $33.9 billion; capex was $14.1 billion in H1 2026 against $3.9 billion.
    CoreWeave Form 10-Q for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 — revenue $2,575M (Q2) and $4,653M (H1); interest expense, net $640M; depreciation on property and equipment $1.4B; net loss $626M; RPO $103.7B (41% within 24 months, 39% in months 25-48; $60.7B at 31 December 2025 per the FY2025 10-K); Customer A 36%, B 26%, C 10% of Q2 revenue (71% a year earlier); capex $14,117M in H1; gross property and equipment $52,622M — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-08-12 · source ↗
  3. ReportedCoreWeave's chief executive said the two companies would continue their commercial partnership.
    CNBC, 30 October 2025 — Core Scientific shareholders reject the $9 billion all-stock CoreWeave offer and the merger agreement is terminated; Two Seas Capital objected to process, structure and valuation, and ISS recommended against; CoreWeave's CEO says the companies will continue their commercial partnership — October 2025 · publ. 2025-10-30 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026