MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) – A mechanical contractor who helped build Elon Musk’s Memphis-area data centers at breakneck speed says SpaceXAI is dragging its feet on paying his company for work performed since 2024.
Darrell Cuttell, owner of Ohio-based Darana Hybrid, said SpaceXAI owes his company more than $136 million.
Dima Amro, the real estate and economic development reporter for the Memphis Business Journal, broke the story Friday. Cuttell’s company is one of several with liens filed against SpaceXAI for failing to pay for services rendered.
“The contractors are alleging they haven’t been paid for years of construction work,” she told Action News 5.
Liens filed with Shelby County
The Shelby County Register of Deeds website shows Darana Hybrid filed two liens against SpaceXAI this week. Cuttell said his company has not been paid for more than $118 million worth of work at the Tulane Road Colossus II data center in Whitehaven, and $18 million for construction at the Colossus facility near Boxtown. The work was performed from 2024 through June of this year.
Cuttell is expected to file additional liens for construction performed at the Southaven plant as well which would take the total amount of money he says is owed to him by SpaceXAI to more than half a billion dollars.
“So it looks like more liens are going to be coming to the surface,” said Amro, “About $400 million more worth of liens. I was told that that would be filed in Mississippi for the SpaceXAI facilities there.”
Additional companies file liens
Two other companies also filed liens against SpaceXAI. USW-Menard Inc. claims it is owed $2.2 million for work done at the water treatment plant. TorcSill Foundations says SpaceXAI owes the company $65,000 for two days of work at Colossus II.
Amro said Cuttell has been affected by the dispute. “He said he hasn’t slept in over four months. He’s lost a lot of weight. And he feels like there’s no future right now after filing those liens,” Amro said.
Motorsports park plans also delayed
Cuttell is also the owner of the International Hot Rod Association, which purchased the Memphis Motorsports Park in Millington in December, promising a total overhaul and new competitions at what is now the Darana Motorsports Park. Originally slated to debut in 2026, those plans have been pushed back to 2027.
Millington Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Chris Thomas issued a statement to Action News 5:
“Obviously, any news involving the owner of IHRA gets our attention because we’re excited about the proposed motorsports park in Millington. Like everyone else, we’ve seen the reports, but we have not received any official communications from IHRA indicating the project or its current timeline has changed. We remain hopeful the project will move forward because it has the potential to be a tremendous economic asset for our community, but we’ll rely on official information rather than speculate.”
Action News 5 reached out to Cuttell for more information, but did not hear back.
SpaceXAI did not respond to Action News 5’s request for comment.
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