Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan has spent years begging Big Tech to build data centers in Alaska. What he doesn’t put in the pitch: his family’s multibillion-dollar company sells data centers the products they’re built with. And Sullivan holds up to $5 million of its stock, according to new reporting from The Alaska Current.
Alaska’s Data Center Salesman
Sullivan isn’t shy about it. In his address to the Alaska Legislature this year, he took credit for the Air Force putting out a request to host data centers on military land in Alaska, saying he’d been “pitching this to everybody in the country who will listen.”
At a May 2025 Senate Commerce hearing, he made the pitch directly to OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Microsoft’s Brad Smith. Cold weather, gas, land, water. “Come on up,” he told them.
He sells it as thousands of good-paying jobs and a steady stream of money for the state.
The Family Business
The company is RPM International, the Ohio coatings giant best known for Rust-Oleum. It reported $7.9 billion in sales in its last fiscal year. It’s publicly traded, but it’s a Sullivan family operation: the senator’s brother Frank Sullivan is its chairman and CEO.
RPM’s stock is the senator’s single largest holding. The Alaska Current reports he holds up to $5 million in shares, a big reason his wealth has tripled since he took office.
Data Centers Are Good Business for RPM
RPM owns several companies that make specialized coatings and building materials for big data center builds. On the company’s July earnings call, Frank Sullivan said its Fibergrate unit does “a really nice chunk of business in data centers.”
He also pointed to Euclid Chemical, which supplies concrete admixtures, and Carboline, which makes fireproofing and anti-corrosion coatings for structural steel. RPM’s investor relations chief told analysts data centers are clearly at the top of the company’s list of new growth categories.
To be fair to the numbers: RPM says data centers are only about 1% to 2% of its total business right now. But it’s the fastest-growing piece, and the senator selling Alaska to the industry is the CEO’s brother.
Not His First Stock Problem
Sullivan was flagged in 2022 for violating the STOCK Act by reporting trades late. The Alaska Current found he has also made several well-timed sales of RPM stock.
One came on Feb. 27, 2020, after closed-door COVID briefings and about two weeks before the pandemic crushed the market. RPM shares then fell by about a third. Two other sales landed shortly before weak RPM earnings reports.
Sullivan has blamed late filings on his stock managers not telling him about trades in time. None of this has led to charges.
Alaskans Get the Noise
The Air Force has offered land at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Clear Space Force Station and Eielson Air Force Base for private AI data centers. Neighbors near Eielson are worried about water use, heat on permafrost, power bills and nonstop noise.
One resident told Alaska’s News Source living near one is “like having a vacuum cleaner on 24 hours a day.”
And the promised jobs? Research from Brookings suggests data centers create fewer jobs than backers claim, with little wage gain for local workers.
What’s at Stake
Sullivan is in the fight of his career. He finished seven points behind Democrat Mary Peltola in the August primary, and a new Data for Progress poll has Peltola ahead 51% to 49% in the final ranked-choice round.
Peltola and independent House candidate Bill Hill want tougher data center rules, including more public input and protections for energy bills. Sullivan says data centers will bring jobs and revenue to Alaska. His campaign has not publicly responded to the report.
The Bottom Line
Dan Sullivan keeps telling Alaskans data centers are a gift to the state. He never mentions they’re also good for his brother’s company and his own stock portfolio. Alaskans get the noise and the power bills. The Sullivans get the business.
Sources: The Alaska Current (Matt Acuña Buxton); RPM International Q4 2026 earnings call transcript and FY26 fact sheet; Senate Commerce Committee hearing transcript; Alaska’s News Source (KTUU); Business Insider; Brookings; Data for Progress.