Microsoft, ByteDance and Facebook were identified in 2021 coverage as leading lessees of U.S. multi-tenant data-center capacity in 2020. Data Center Dynamics attributed 225 MW across nine deals in four markets to Microsoft and 134 MW to ByteDance. Facebook also appears in several of North American Data Centers’ largest-lease examples, including a 72 MW Ashburn deal. These figures come from different source treatments, so they do not establish a fully comparable, audited ranking of all three companies.
How much data-center capacity was leased in the United States in 2020?
North American Data Centers (NADC), in a market review published in January 2021, described U.S. multi-tenant data-center leasing as a record year, with just under 700 MW leased. It said that was more than three times the 2019 level and twice the 2018 level. This is a market-wide estimate for leased capacity, not a count of data centers or a measure of the companies’ total owned and leased infrastructure. NADC’s 2020 primary market review.
Which companies were among the largest lessees?
Contemporaneous reporting named Microsoft, ByteDance and Facebook among the leading tenants, but the available figures are not a uniform company-by-company ledger. Data Center Dynamics reported Microsoft’s total as 225 MW across nine deals in four markets and ByteDance’s as 134 MW. These are figures attributed to that publication’s account, not audited company disclosures. Data Center Dynamics’ January 2021 coverage.
NADC’s transaction table identifies prominent Facebook leases but does not provide a matching, complete annual total for all three companies. Its entries are useful for seeing specific deals and markets; they should not be treated as an equivalent basis for ranking company-wide totals.
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| Company | Reported capacity or listed examples | What the figure represents |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | 225 MW | Data Center Dynamics’ reported total across nine deals in four markets. |
| ByteDance | 134 MW | Data Center Dynamics’ reported total; the account does not specify a comparable deal count here. |
| 77.5 MW | Simple sum of three NADC-listed deals only: 72 MW in Ashburn, 3.5 MW in Richmond and 2 MW in Chicago. It is not a complete annual company total. |
What major leases did NADC list?
NADC’s table, titled “Largest Wholesale Turn-Key Leases in 2020,” highlights several large Northern Virginia transactions:
- Facebook: 72 MW with CloudHQ in Ashburn.
- Microsoft: 60 MW with CloudHQ in Manassas and 40 MW with Digital Realty in Ashburn.
- ByteDance: 54 MW with Aligned and 52 MW with Digital Realty in Ashburn, plus another 20 MW Digital Realty deal in Ashburn.
The table also names Microsoft leases in San Jose, Sterling, Elk Grove Village, Phoenix and Santa Clara, and a ByteDance 8 MW Vantage lease in Sterling. Its Microsoft Franklin Park entry is reported as 192,000 square feet, not megawatts. Square feet measure area, while MW expresses power capacity; the Franklin Park number cannot be added to the MW figures without further information and a valid conversion basis. NADC says its listed totals are believed to reflect total lease commitments and do not contemplate expansions. NADC’s transaction table and notes.
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Why was Northern Virginia so important?
NADC reported more than 500 MW of leasing in Northern Virginia and said the region accounted for 80% of U.S. and Canadian activity in its summary. Data Center Dynamics also described more than 500 MW in Northern Virginia. Keep the geographic bases distinct: NADC’s 80% compares the region with combined U.S. and Canadian leasing, while the nearly 700 MW market figure above is U.S.-only.
The concentration reflects the region’s role as a major data-center market. Data Center Knowledge described a broader business rationale for leasing in crowded top-tier markets: land can be expensive there, while hyperscalers may build large campuses in more remote places where land and energy are cheaper and local tax incentives may be available. That is a reported explanation for the leasing-versus-building pattern, not a rule that applies to every transaction. Data Center Knowledge’s January 2021 explanation.
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What these lease figures do—and do not—tell you
A lease is not the same as a company-owned data center, and these annual transaction figures do not represent a firm’s entire infrastructure footprint. Microsoft and Facebook also built their own data centers. The figures answer a narrower question: how much capacity these reports attributed to leases from multi-tenant operators during 2020.
NADC’s market review lists CloudHQ, Aligned and Digital Realty Trust among the operators that benefited most from investments by the three companies. Its transaction examples also name QTS, Vantage, Stack, NTT and Iron Mountain. The reported Microsoft and ByteDance totals and NADC’s selected transaction table serve different purposes, so adding or comparing their numbers as though they came from one consistent inventory would overstate what the evidence establishes.
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