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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☒	Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
	For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021
☐	Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
	For the Transition Period From                     to                     .

Commission file number	001-32336 (Digital Realty Trust, Inc.)
	000-54023 (Digital Realty Trust, L.P.)

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, INC.

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, L.P.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland (Digital Realty Trust, Inc.) Maryland (Digital Realty Trust, L.P.)	26-0081711 20-2402955
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)	(IRS employer identification number)
5707 Southwest Parkway, Building 1, Suite 275 Austin, Texas	78735
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

(737) 281-0101

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

	Title of each class	Trading Symbols(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share	DLR	New York Stock Exchange
	Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share	DLR Pr J	New York Stock Exchange
	Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share	DLR Pr K	New York Stock Exchange
	Series L Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value per share	DLR Pr L	New York Stock Exchange
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	None	None	None

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	None
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Common Units of Partnership Interest

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Yes  ◻   No   ⌧
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Yes  ◻   No   ⌧

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Yes   ⌧  No  ◻

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.:

Large accelerated filer	⌧	Accelerated filer	◻
Non-accelerated filer	◻	Smaller reporting company	☐
		Emerging growth company	☐

Digital Realty Trust, L.P.:

Large accelerated filer	◻	Accelerated filer	◻
Non-accelerated filer	⌧	Smaller reporting company	☐
		Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	☐
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	☒
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Yes  ☐   No   ⌧
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Yes  ☐   No   ⌧

The aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. as of June 30, 2021 totaled approximately $42 billion based on the closing price for Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock on that day as reported by the New York Stock Exchange. Such value excludes common stock held by executive officers, directors and 10% or greater stockholders as of June 30, 2021. The identification of 10% or greater stockholders as of June 30, 2021 is based on Schedule 13G and amended Schedule 13G reports publicly filed before June 30, 2021. This calculation does not reflect a determination that such parties are affiliates for any other purposes.

There is no public trading market for the common units of Digital Realty Trust, L.P. As a result, the aggregate market value of the common units held by non-affiliates of Digital Realty Trust, L.P. cannot be determined.

Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the registrant’s classes of common stock, as of the latest practicable date.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.:

Class	Outstanding at February 22, 2022
Common Stock, $.01 par value per share	284,469,103

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Part III incorporates by reference portions of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s Proxy Statement for its 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders which the registrants anticipate will be filed no later than 120 days after the end of their fiscal year pursuant to Regulation 14A.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

This report combines the annual reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 of Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a Maryland corporation, and Digital Realty Trust, L.P., a Maryland limited partnership, of which Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is the sole general partner. Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this report to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our Company”, or “the Company” refer to Digital Realty Trust, Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Digital Realty Trust, L.P. Unless otherwise, all references to the “Parent” refer to Digital Realty Trust, Inc., and all references to “our Operating Partnership,” “the Operating Partnership” or “the OP” refer to Digital Realty Trust, L.P. together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

The Parent is a real estate investment trust, or REIT, and the sole general partner of the OP. In statements regarding qualification as a REIT, such terms refer solely to Digital Realty Trust, Inc. As of December 31, 2021, the Parent owned an approximate 98.0% common general partnership interest in Digital Realty Trust, L.P. The remaining approximate 2.0% of the common limited partnership interests of Digital Realty Trust, L.P. are owned by non-affiliated third parties and certain directors and officers of the Parent. As of December 31, 2021, the Parent owned all of the preferred limited partnership interests of Digital Realty Trust, L.P. As the sole general partner of Digital Realty Trust, L.P., the Parent has the full, exclusive and complete responsibility for the OP’s day-to-day management and control.

We believe combining the annual reports on Form 10-K of the Parent and the OP into this single report results in the following benefits:

● enhancing investors’ understanding of the Parent and the OP by enabling investors to view the business as a whole in the same manner as management views and operates the business;

● eliminating duplicative disclosure and providing a more streamlined and readable presentation since a substantial portion of the disclosure applies to both the Parent and the OP; and

● creating time and cost efficiencies through the preparation of one combined report instead of two separate reports.

It is important to understand the few differences between the Parent and the OP in the context of how we operate the Company. The Parent does not conduct business itself, other than acting as the sole general partner of the OP and issuing public equity from time to time and guaranteeing certain unsecured debt of the OP and certain of its subsidiaries and affiliates. The OP holds substantially all the assets of the business, directly or indirectly. The OP conducts the operations of the business and is structured as a partnership with no publicly traded equity. Except for net proceeds from equity issuances by the Parent, which are generally contributed to the OP in exchange for partnership units, the OP generates capital required by the business through the OP’s operations, incurrence of indebtedness and issuance of partnership units to third parties.

The presentation of noncontrolling interests, stockholders’ equity and partners’ capital are the main areas of difference between the consolidated financial statements of the Parent and those of the OP. The differences in the presentations between stockholders’ equity and partners’ capital result from the differences in the equity and capital issuances in the Parent and in the OP.

To highlight the differences between the Parent and the OP, separate sections in this report, as applicable, individually discuss the Parent and the OP, including separate financial statements and separate Exhibit 31 and 32 certifications. In the sections that combine disclosure of the Parent and the OP, this report refers to actions or holdings as being actions or holdings of the Company.

As general partner with control of the OP, the Parent consolidates the OP for financial reporting purposes, and it does not have significant assets other than its investment in the OP. Therefore, the assets and liabilities of the Parent and the OP are the same on their respective consolidated financial statements. The separate discussions of the Parent and the OP in this report should be read in conjunction with each other to understand the results of the Company on a consolidated basis and how management operates the Company.

In this report, “properties” and “buildings” refer to all or any of the buildings in our portfolio, including data centers and non-data centers, and “data centers” refers only to the properties or buildings in our portfolio that contain data center space.

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, INC. AND DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, L.P.

FORM 10-K

FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021

TABLE OF CONTENTS

		PAGE NO.
PART I.		1
ITEM 1.	Business	1
ITEM 1A.	Risk Factors	17
ITEM 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	47
ITEM 2.	Properties	47
ITEM 3.	Legal Proceedings	51
ITEM 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	51
PART II.		52
ITEM 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	52
ITEM 6.	Selected Financial Data	55
ITEM 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	56
ITEM 7A.	Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk	75
ITEM 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	79
ITEM 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	149
ITEM 9A.	Controls and Procedures	149
ITEM 9B.	Other Information	150
PART III.		151
ITEM 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	151
ITEM 11.	Executive Compensation	151
ITEM 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	151
ITEM 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence	151
ITEM 14.	Principal Accounting Fees and Services	151
PART IV.		152
ITEM 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules	152
ITEM 16.	Form 10-K Summary	161
SIGNATURES		162

PART I

ITEM 1.     BUSINESS

The Company

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (the “Parent”), through its controlling interest in Digital Realty Trust, L.P. (the “Operating Partnership” or the “OP”) and the subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership, (collectively, “we”, “our”, “us” or the “Company”) is a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions for customers across a variety of industry verticals. The Parent operates as a REIT for federal income tax purposes. The OP is the entity through which the Parent conducts its business of owning, acquiring, developing and operating data centers. The Parent was incorporated in the state of Maryland on March 9, 2004. The OP was organized as a limited partnership in the state of Maryland on July 21, 2004.

As of December 31, 2021, our portfolio consisted of 287 data centers (including 50 data centers held as investments in unconsolidated entities), of which 127 are located in the United States, 107 are located in Europe, 27 are located in Latin America, 13 are located in Asia, six are located in Australia, four are located in Africa and three are located in Canada.

Our principal executive offices are located at 5707 Southwest Parkway, Building 1, Suite 275, Austin, Texas 78735. Our telephone number is (737) 281-0101. Our website is www.digitalrealty.com. The information found on, or otherwise accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, nor does it form a part of, this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Recent Acquisitions

On October 29, 2019, Digital Realty Trust, Inc., Digital Intrepid Holding B.V., an indirect subsidiary of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (the “Buyer”), and Interxion Holding N.V., which we refer to as Interxion, entered into a purchase agreement, or the Purchase Agreement, pursuant to which, subject to the terms and conditions of the Purchase Agreement, the Buyer commenced an exchange offer to purchase all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Interxion in exchange for shares of common stock of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. We refer to the transactions contemplated by the Purchase Agreement as the Interxion Combination. We obtained control of Interxion on March 9, 2020 and completed the Interxion Combination on March 12, 2020 for total equity consideration of approximately $7.0 billion, including cash assumed. The Interxion Combination expanded the combined company’s presence across Europe and Africa.

On November 1, 2019, we closed the joint venture with Mapletree Investments and Mapletree Industrial Trust, which we refer to collectively as Mapletree, on three existing Turn-Key Flex® data centers located in Ashburn, Virginia. The Company retained a 20% ownership interest in the joint venture, and Mapletree acquired the remaining 80% stake for approximately $0.8 billion. We will continue to operate and manage these facilities. The second tranche of the Mapletree transaction, the sale of 10 fully-leased Powered Base Building® properties for $557 million, closed in January 2020.

On December 20, 2018, the Operating Partnership and Stellar Participações S.A. (formerly Stellar Participações Ltda.), a Brazilian subsidiary of the Operating Partnership, completed the acquisition of Ascenty, a leading data center provider in Brazil, for cash and equity consideration of approximately $2.0 billion, including cash assumed. We refer to this transaction as the Ascenty Acquisition. In March 2019, we formed a joint venture with Brookfield Infrastructure, an affiliate of Brookfield Asset Management, one of the largest owners and operators of infrastructure assets globally. Brookfield invested approximately $702 million in exchange for approximately 49% of the total equity interests in the joint venture which owns and operates Ascenty. A subsidiary of the Operating Partnership retained the remaining equity interest in the Ascenty joint venture. As of March 27, 2019, we deconsolidated Ascenty and recorded our retained interest as an investment in unconsolidated entities due to shared control with Brookfield.

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Industry Background

The digital economy continues to grow and change how enterprises across all industries create and deliver value. Companies increasingly need to operate ubiquitously, on-demand and with real-time intelligence serving customers, partners and employees across multiple channels, business functions and points of business presence. Computational processing power requirements continue to advance, data traffic is growing, and the volume of data that enterprises generate, transmit, process, analyze, monitor and manage is expanding dramatically. The Internet of Things, 5G, autonomous vehicles and artificial intelligence, among other technological advancements, are driving this digital transformation.

We believe that enterprise data growth is accelerating due to the growing digital economy and emerging technological advances. As enterprises analyze and process this accelerating data mass, they create more data. As this mass of data continues to grow, it needs to be analyzed and processed: a task which we believe is becoming increasingly challenging to replicate and relocate. This phenomenon is called Data Gravity. We believe that enterprise decisionmakers will need to increasingly consider the impact of how Data Gravity impacts their enterprise IT architectures and, accordingly, we have developed the Data Gravity Index™: a global forecast that measures the intensity and gravitational force of enterprise data growth.

As the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, we believe the data center industry is poised for sustainable growth. The demand for data center infrastructure is being driven by this digital transformation which is contributing to the explosive growth of data, rapid growth of cloud adoption and greater demand for IT outsourcing. The power requirements and financial costs to support this growth in data, traffic and storage are substantial and growing accordingly. We believe data centers will continue to play a critical role in the digital economy and enabling business transformation strategies.

We believe cloud solutions and hybrid cloud solutions will remain significant drivers of demand for data center infrastructure. The hybrid cloud, which combines public and private cloud solutions, has gained traction because it enables corporate enterprises to achieve efficiencies and contain costs, as well as scale and secure their most sensitive information. In addition, the leading cloud service providers are generally mature, well-capitalized technology companies, and cloud platforms are among the fastest-growing business segments. Data center providers that can solve global coverage, capacity and connectivity needs, and coordinate and aggregate diverse customer and application demand, are poised to benefit from these cloud-specific industry drivers.

These diverse and secular industry dynamics are driving greater demand for data center capacity not only from global cloud service providers, but also from businesses across other industries, including IT service firms, social media, content providers and the financial services sector. As companies focus on their core competencies and rely on outsourcing to meet their IT infrastructure needs, they are prioritizing colocation for their data center solutions for various reasons, including to reduce latency in data transfer and increase global presence and connectivity. New technologies need a fast, reliable and flexible foundation to operate, and the importance of offering a full spectrum of power, space and connectivity solutions continues to grow.

Our Business

We provide a global data center platform that supports our customers’ digital infrastructure and enables our customers to interconnect with their customers and partners. We solve global coverage, capacity and connectivity needs for companies of all sizes, including the world’s leading enterprises and services providers, through PlatformDIGITAL®, a global data center platform for scaling digital business which enables customers to deploy their critical infrastructure with a global data center provider.

PlatformDIGITAL® combines our global presence with our Pervasive Data Center Architecture (PDx™) solution methodology for scaling digital business and efficiently managing data gravity challenges. Our global data center footprint gives customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them with 287 facilities in nearly 50 metros across 25 countries on six continents.

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Fundamentally, we bring together foundational real estate and innovative technology expertise around the world to deliver a comprehensive, dedicated product suite to meet customers’ data and connectivity needs. We represent an important part of the digital economy that we believe will benefit from powerful, long-term growth drivers.

We believe that the growth trends in the data center market, technology, the cloud, internet traffic and internet-based services, combined with cost advantages in outsourcing data center requirements, provide attractive growth opportunities for us as a data center solutions provider. Leveraging deep expertise in technology and real estate, we have an expansive global footprint, impressive scale and a full-spectrum fit-for-purpose product offering in key metropolitan areas around the world. These advantages simplify the contracting process for multinational enterprises, eliminating their need to negotiate with multiple local data center solutions providers. In addition, in areas where high data center construction and operating costs and long time-to-market prohibit many of our customers from building their own data centers, our global footprint and scale allow us to meet our customers' needs quickly and efficiently.

Our Data Center Portfolio

Our portfolio of high-quality data centers provides secure, highly connected and continuously available environments for the exchange, processing and storage of critical data. Data centers are used for digital communication, disaster recovery purposes, transaction processing and housing mission-critical corporate IT applications. Our internet gateway data centers are highly connected, network-dense facilities that serve as hubs for internet and data communications within and between major metropolitan areas. We believe internet gateways are extremely valuable, and a high-quality, highly interconnected global portfolio such as ours could not be easily replicated today on a cost-competitive basis.

We are diversified across major metropolitan areas characterized by a high concentration of connected end-users and technology companies. At December 31, 2021, we owned or had investments in properties, on a wholly-owned basis or through unconsolidated entities, in the following geographies:

Our portfolio contains a total of approximately 45.5 million square feet, including approximately 7.2 million square feet of space under active development and approximately 2.7 million square feet of space held for future development. The 50 data centers held as investments in unconsolidated entities have an aggregate of approximately 35.6 million rentable square feet. The 27 parcels of developable land we own comprise approximately 849 acres. A significant component of our current and future growth is expected to be generated through the development of our existing space held for development and acquisition of new properties. As of December 31, 2021, our portfolio, including the 50 data centers held as investments in unconsolidated entities and excluding space under active development and space held for future development, was approximately 83.6% leased. From time to time we may look to sell individual assets or portfolios of assets that we do not consider to be core to our business and growth strategy.

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Through strategic investments, we have expanded our footprint into Latin America, enhanced our data center offerings in strategic and complementary U.S. metropolitan areas, established our colocation and interconnection platform in the U.S. and expanded our colocation and interconnection platform in Europe and Africa, with each transaction enhancing our presence in top-tier locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin America and Africa.

The locations of and improvements to our data centers, the network density, interconnection infrastructure and connectivity-centric customers in certain of our facilities, and our comprehensive product offerings are critical to our customers’ businesses, which we believe results in high occupancy levels, longer average lease terms and customer relationships, as well as lower turnover. In addition, many of our data centers contain significant improvements that have been installed at our customers’ expense. The tenant improvements in our data centers are generally readily adaptable for use by similar customers.

Our data centers are physically secure, network-rich and equipped to meet the power and cooling requirements of smaller footprints up to the most demanding IT applications. Many of our data centers are located on major aggregation points formed by the physical presence of multiple major telecommunications service providers, which reduces our customers’ costs and operational risks and enhances the attractiveness of our properties. In addition, our strategically located global data center campuses offer our customers the ability to expand their global footprint as their businesses grow, while our connectivity offerings on our campuses enhance the capabilities and attractiveness of these facilities. Further, the network density, interconnection infrastructure and connectivity-centric customers in certain of our data centers has led to the organic formation of densely connected data communities that are difficult for competitors to replicate and deliver added value to our customers.

Our Diversified Product Offerings

We provide a flexible, global data center platform that allows our customers to tailor infrastructure deployments and controls matched to their business needs. Our data centers and comprehensive suite of product offerings are scalable to meet our customers’ needs, from a single rack or cabinet up to multi-megawatt deployments, along with connectivity, connected data communities and solutions to support their hybrid cloud architecture requirements. Over the past few years, we have expanded our product mix to appeal to a broader spectrum of data center customers, especially those seeking to support a greater portion of their data center requirements through a single provider. Our Critical Facilities Management® services and team of technical engineers and data center operations experts provide 24/7 support for these mission-critical facilities.

PlatformDIGITAL® Solution Model. The PlatformDIGITAL® solution model is based on our Pervasive Data Center Architecture (PDx™) strategy, which brings users, networks, clouds, controls and systems to the data, removing barriers, creating centers of data exchange to accommodate distributed workflows and scaling digital business.

Network Hub	Consolidates and localizes traffic into ingress/egress points to optimize network performance and cost
Control Hub	Hosts adjacent security and IT controls to improve security posture and Hybrid-IT operations
Data Hub	Localizes data aggregation, staging, analytics, streaming and data management to optimize data exchange
SX Fabric	Adds SDN overlay to service chain multi-cloud and B2B application ecosystems Connects hubs across metros and regions to enable secure and performant distributed workflows

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Capacity

Product	Description
Colocation (0 to 1 MW)	Small (one cabinet) to medium (75 cabinets) deployments Provides agility to quickly deploy in days Contract length generally 2-5 years Consistent designs, operational environment, power expenses
Scale & Hyperscale Powered Base Building® Turn-Key Flex® (> 1 MW)	Scale from medium to very large deployments Solution can be executed in weeks Contract length generally 5-10+ years Customized data center environment for specific deployment needs

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The PlatformDIGITAL® solution model is available in our colocation and Turn-Key Flex® data centers, which are move-in ready, physically secure facilities with the power and cooling capabilities to support customers requiring a single rack or cabinet up to multi-megawatt deployments. We believe our colocation and Turn-Key Flex® facilities are effective solutions for customers who may lack the bandwidth, capital budget, expertise, or desire to provide their own extensive data center infrastructure, management, and security. We believe our offerings are also well-suited for those customers who seek to efficiently exchange data with others in our connected data communities, lowering their costs and creating value for their business. For customers who possess the ability to build and operate their own facility, our Powered Base Building® solution provides the physical location, requisite power, and network access necessary to support a state-of-the-art data center.

Additionally, our data center campuses offer our customers the opportunity to expand in or near their existing deployments within our data center campuses.

Connectivity

Product	Description
Cross Connect	A physical connection between two customer defined end points in a Digital Realty facility enabling customers to directly exchange data traffic
Campus Connect	Local, dedicated connectivity solution within Digital Realty campus environments located in hyperconnected metros around the world enabling multiple facilities on a single campus to exchange data traffic and therefore operate as a virtual single data center
Metro Connect	Dedicated connection between multiple Digital Realty facilities located in the same metro area enabling fast connectivity for data traffic between them
Interxion Cloud Connect	Provides secure and high-performance VLAN interconnections to multiple cloud service providers from one physical connection
Internet Exchange	A common peering platform allowing participants to exchange network traffic with multiple ISPs, CDNs and other parties over a single port interface
Service Exchange	SDN Global interconnection solution enabling customers to establish direct, private connections to multiple Cloud Service Providers, Network Providers and other participants of the platform from a single interface
IP Bandwidth	Dedicated Internet Access using blend of ISPs. Provides customer with highly resilient customer dedicated connections including Fixed and Burstable Service options
Pathway	Point-of-entry access for carriers, terminating into the POP or Meet Me Room within a given facility

Through investments and strategic partnerships, we have significantly expanded our capabilities as a leading provider of interconnection and cloud-enablement services globally. We believe interconnection is an attractive line of business that would be difficult to build organically and enhances the overall value proposition of our data center product offerings. Furthermore, through product offerings such as our Service Exchange and Interxion Cloud Connect and partnerships with cloud service providers, we can support our customers’ hybrid cloud architecture requirements.

Our Global Customers

Our portfolio has attracted a high-quality, diversified mix of customers. We have more than 4,000 customers, and no single customer represented more than approximately 10.0% of the aggregate annualized recurring revenue of our

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portfolio as of December 31, 2021. We provide each customer access to a choice of highly customized solutions based on their scale, colocation, and interconnection needs.

Global Customer Base across a Wide Variety of Industry Sectors. We use our in-depth knowledge of requirements for and trends impacting cloud and information technology service providers, content providers, network and communications providers, and other data center users, including enterprise customers, to market our data centers to meet these customers’ specific technology needs. Our customers are increasingly launching multi-regional deployments and growing with us globally. Our largest customer, accounted for approximately 10.0% of our aggregate annualized recurring revenue as of December 31, 2021. No other single customer accounted for more than approximately 4.1% of the aggregate annualized recurring revenue of our portfolio. Our customers represent a variety of industry verticals, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, gaming, life sciences and consumer products.

Cloud and IT Services	Digital Content Providers and Financial Companies	Network and Mobile Services
Equinix	Facebook, Inc.	AT&T
Fortune 50 Software Company	Fortune 25 Investment Grade-Rated Company	Comcast Corporation
IBM	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	Lumen Technologies, Inc.
Oracle America, Inc.	LinkedIn	Verizon

Proven Experience Attracting and Retaining Customers. Our specialized data center salesforce, which is aligned to meet our customers’ needs for global, enterprise and network solutions, provides a robust pipeline of new customers, while existing customers continue to grow and expand their utilization of our technology-enabled services to support a greater portion of their IT needs.

Our Design and Construction Program

Our extensive development activity, operating scale and process-based approach to data center design and construction result in significant cost savings and added value for our customers. We have leveraged our purchasing power by securing global purchasing agreements and developing relationships with major equipment manufacturers, reducing costs and shortening delivery timeframes on key components, including major mechanical and electrical equipment. See "We and our customers may experience supply chain or procurement disruptions, or increased supply chain costs, which may lead to delays." in Item 1A. Risk Factors for further discussion. Utilizing our innovative modular data center design, we deliver what we believe to be a technically superior data center environment at significant cost savings. In addition, by utilizing our modular design architecture to develop new distributed redundant solutions in our existing Powered Base Building® facilities, on average we can deliver a fully commissioned standard design facility in under 30 weeks. Finally, our access to capital and investment-grade ratings allow us to provide data center solutions for customers who do not want to invest their own capital.

Our Investment Approach

We have developed detailed, standardized procedures for evaluating acquisitions and investments, including income-producing properties as well as vacant buildings and land suitable for development, to ensure that they meet our strategic, financial, technical and other criteria. These procedures, together with our in-depth knowledge of the technology, data center and real estate industries, allow us to identify strategically located properties and evaluate investment opportunities efficiently and, as appropriate, commit and close quickly. Our investment-grade ratings, along with our broad network of contacts within the data center industry, enable us to effectively capitalize on acquisition and investment opportunities.

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Our Management Team and Organization

Our senior management team has many years of experience in the technology and/or real estate industries, including experience as investors in and advisors to technology companies. We believe that our senior management team’s extensive knowledge of both the technology and the real estate industries provides us with a key competitive advantage. Further, a significant portion of compensation for our senior management team and directors is in the form of common equity interests in our Company. We also maintain minimum stock ownership requirements for our senior management team and directors, further aligning their interests with those of external stockholders, as well as an employee stock purchase plan, which encourages our employees to increase their ownership in the Company.

Our Business and Growth Strategies

Our primary business objectives are to maximize: (i) sustainable long-term growth in earnings and funds from operations per share and unit, (ii) cash flow and returns to our stockholders and our Operating Partnership’s unitholders through the payment of dividends and distributions and (iii) return on invested capital. We expect to accomplish these objectives by achieving superior risk-adjusted returns, prudently allocating capital, diversifying our product offerings, accelerating our global reach and scale, and driving revenue growth and operating efficiencies.

Superior Risk-Adjusted Returns. We believe that achieving appropriate risk-adjusted returns on our business, including on our development pipeline and leasing transactions, will deliver superior stockholder returns. We may continue to build out our development pipeline when justified by anticipated returns. We have established robust internal guidelines for reviewing and approving leasing transactions, which we believe will drive risk-adjusted returns. We also believe that providing an even stronger value proposition to our customers, including new and more comprehensive product offerings, as well as continuing to improve operational efficiencies, will further drive improved returns for our business.

Prudently Allocate Capital. We believe that the strategic deployment of capital at sufficiently positive spreads above our cost of capital enables us to increase cash flow and create long-term stockholder value.

Strategic and Complementary Investments. We have developed significant expertise at underwriting, financing and executing data center investment opportunities. We employ a collaborative approach to deal analysis, risk management and asset allocation, focusing on key elements, such as market fundamentals, accessibility to fiber and power, and the local regulatory environment. In addition, the specialized nature of data centers makes these investment opportunities more difficult for traditional real estate investors to underwrite, resulting in reduced competition for investments relative to other property types. We believe this dynamic creates an opportunity for us to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns on our capital.

Preserve the Flexibility of Our Balance Sheet. We are committed to maintaining a conservative capital structure. We target a debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio at or less than 5.5x, fixed charge coverage of greater than three times, and floating rate debt at less than 20% of total outstanding debt. In addition, we strive to maintain a well-laddered debt maturity schedule, and we seek to maximize the menu of our available sources of capital, while minimizing the related cost. Since Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s initial public offering in 2004, we have raised approximately $53.1 billion of capital through common (excluding forward contracts), preferred and convertible preferred equity offerings, exchangeable debt offerings, non-exchangeable bond offerings, our global revolving credit facilities, our term loan facility, a senior notes shelf facility, secured mortgage financings and re-financings, joint venture partnerships and the sale of non-core assets. We endeavor to maintain financial flexibility while using our liquidity and access to capital to support operations, our acquisition, investment, leasing and development programs and global campus expansion, which are important sources of our growth.

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Leverage Technology to Develop Comprehensive and Diverse Products. We believe we have one of the most comprehensive suites of global data center solutions available to customers from a single provider.

Global Service Infrastructure Platform. With our recent acquisitions, which extend our footprint further across Latin America, Europe and Africa, enhanced our portfolio of scale and hyper-scale data centers in the U.S. and furthers our position as a leading provider of colocation, interconnection and cloud-enablement services globally, we are able to offer one of the industry’s broadest range of data center solutions to meet our customers’ needs, from a single rack or cabinet to multi-megawatt deployments. We believe our products like Service Exchange and our partnerships with managed services and cloud service providers further enhance the attractiveness of our data centers.

Provide Foundational Services to Enable Customers and Partners. We believe that the platform, through which we offer the foundational services of space, power and connectivity, will enable our customers and partners to serve their customers and grow their businesses. We believe our Internet gateway data centers, individual data centers and data center campuses are attractive to a wide variety of customers and partners of all sizes. Furthermore, we believe our colocation and interconnection offerings, as well as the densely connected communities of interest that have developed within our facilities, and the availability and scalability of our comprehensive suite of products are valuable and critical to our customers and partners.

Accelerate Global Reach and Scale. We have strategically pursued international expansion since our IPO in 2004 and now operate across six continents. We believe that our global multi-product data center portfolio is a foundational element of our strategy and our scale and global platform represent key competitive advantages difficult to replicate. Customers and competitors are recognizing the value of interconnected scale, which aligns with our connected campus strategy that enables customers to “land and expand” with us. We expect to continue to source and execute strategic and complementary transactions to strengthen our data center portfolio, expand our global footprint and product mix, and enhance our scale.

Drive Revenue Growth and Operating Efficiencies. We aggressively manage our properties to maximize cash flow and control costs by leveraging our scale to drive operating efficiencies.

Leverage Strong Industry Relationships. Our global market leadership position and strong industry relationships provide us with a unique vantage point to detect and capitalize on secular trends as they emerge globally. We focus our industry relationship efforts towards market sensing, market shaping and helping to set open standards that benefit companies of all types to derive value from digital infrastructure and multi-tenant datacenters. Industry collaboration includes engagements with industry associations, IT industry analysts, venture capitalists, technology incubators, technology service providers, telecommunications providers, systems integrators and large multi-national companies across segments including manufacturing, transportation & logistics, financial services, healthcare, pharmaceutical and digital media. These relationships help us forge new product capabilities, inform investment decisions, develop new routes to market and create differentiated value for customers and drive long-term growth and yield for shareholders.

Maximize Cash Flow. We often acquire operating properties with substantial in-place cash flow and some vacancy, which enables us to create upside through lease-up. We control our costs by negotiating expense pass-through provisions in customer agreements for operating expenses, including power costs and certain capital expenditure. We have also focused on centralizing functions and optimizing operations as well as improving processes and technologies. We believe that expanding our global data center campuses will also contribute to operating efficiencies because we expect to achieve economies of scale on our campus environments.

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Sustainability. We believe that addressing sustainability by driving environmental efficiency through the implementation of cost-effective design features and the use of carbon-free and renewable energy serves as a key differentiator enabling us to deliver products that help attract and retain customers, generate cash flow, and manage operational risks. In 2021, for the fifth consecutive year, we received the Nareit “Leader in the Light” award for data centers, recognizing our sustainability and energy-efficiency achievements. In 2021, we allocated €1.83 billion in net proceeds from our green bonds and issued two additional green bonds (€1.0 billion and CHF545 million) to allocate to green buildings, energy efficiency improvements, and renewable energy.

The Real Estate Sustainability Accounting Standard guidance, issued by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB”), outlines proposed disclosure topics and accounting metrics for the real estate industry. We provide data on energy and water management metrics that we believe best correlate with our business and industry as indicated in the following sections. Energy and water data receive third party assurance as part of our annual environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) report development process.

Energy Management

a) 2020 Energy Data⁽¹⁾

	a
Energy Consumption Data Coverage as % of Floor Area	Total Energy Consumed by Portfolio Area with Data Coverage (MWh)(2)	Grid electricity consumption as a % of Energy Consumption	Renewable Energy as a % of Energy Consumption(3)	Like-for-Like Change in Energy Consumption for Portfolio Area with Data Coverage(4)
87%	8,443,670	97%	38%	1%

(1) The most recent full year for which energy data is available is 2020. The scope of data coverage includes managed and non-managed assets. In 2020, 99% of the Company’s portfolio consisted of data center space along with limited accessory uses, predominantly office space. These secondary space types are not broken out by subsector.

(2) The scope of energy includes energy purchased from sources external to the Company and its customers; energy produced by the Company and its customers (i.e., self-generated); and energy from all other sources, including direct fuel usage, purchased electricity, and purchased chilled water.

(3) Provided as a percent of energy consumption for managed assets. Excludes renewable energy delivered as part of the standard utility fuel mix. Includes above-baseline utility renewables (e.g., green tariffs), Renewable Energy Credit (“REC”) and Guaranty-of-Origin (“GO”) purchases, customer-sourced renewable energy and RECs generated by the Company.

(4) Scope of data is aligned with the 2020 GRESB Real Estate Assessment Reference Guide (“Like-for-like Comparison”).

b) Sustainable Data Center Ratings

We seek to certify major new construction and redevelopment projects under US Green Building Council LEED Silver rating or comparable certification. Our data center space receiving third-party sustainable ratings in 2021 totaled approximately 1.0 million square feet. We received the following sustainable data center ratings for all, or a portion of, the following sites:

Data Center	Metropolitan Area	Rating System	Level Achieved
22125 Broderick Dr	Ashburn	LEED (1)	Silver
6675 NE 62nd St	Hillsboro	LEED	Silver
11 Hanbury St (LON3)	London	BREEAM (2)	Excellent
11 Hanbury St (LON3)	London	BREEAM	Excellent

(1) LEED^TM: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

(2) BREEAM: Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method

For existing buildings, we seek to benchmark 100% of properties in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager and pursue EPA ENERGY STAR certification for eligible U.S. properties. In 2021, we achieved ENERGY STAR for Data Centers recognition for 34 data centers, representing 44% of our U.S. stabilized and managed data center portfolio by square

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feet. In total, 35% of our total global stabilized and managed portfolio by square feet had an energy rating as of December 31, 2021.⁽¹⁾

(1) Excludes non-stabilized assets, Powered Base Building space, space under active development, space held for development, non-managed assets, and space held in unconsolidated entities.

c) Energy management considerations

Energy and resource management considerations are integrated into our business decisions and strategy. For our operating portfolio, annual capital expense investment planning identifies and evaluates resource efficiency project opportunities alongside non-resource-impacting capital investments. For acquisitions and new development activity, resiliency risks, resource availability, and renewable energy access are considered. Our design and construction process is intended to incorporate sustainable features that support resource efficiency during construction as well as during the operational lifecycle of the sites.

We seek to proactively identify and support opportunities to efficiently utilize resources, such as energy and water, throughout our operating portfolio. We have a target to reduce global colocation power usage effectiveness (PUE) 10% by 2022 from a 2017 baseline and we surpassed this goal in 2020 by achieving an 11% reduction. We also had a target to reduce PUE for our Interxion portfolio 5% by 2020 from a 2017 baseline and we surpassed this goal by achieving a 6% reduction in 2020. These goals reflect targets established prior to the Digital Realty and Interxion combination. 24 of our data centers in EMEA participate in the European Union’s Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centers, a voluntary initiative which addresses airflow management, cooling system efficiency and capital plant replacement.

Globally, we conduct external technical building assessments as well as utilize ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager scores to prioritize efficiency opportunities. Energy efficiency measures implemented typically involve HVAC and lighting-related improvements and building commissioning. In 2020, energy efficiency measures implemented totaled over 21,800 MWh in projected energy savings.

We set a global carbon reduction target that has been validated by the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi) to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions 68% per square foot and Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services and fuel- and energy-related activities 24% per square foot by 2030, from a 2018 baseline. Additionally, we are a signatory to the EU Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact, a Self-Regulatory Initiative committing to climate neutrality by 2030 and setting additional goals around energy efficiency, carbon-free energy sourcing, water conservation and waste heat recycling. We continue to match 100% of our European portfolio and US colocation business unit with renewable energy. Our US renewable energy purchase agreements produced 1.01 million MWh of renewable energy credits in 2020.

We implement ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) and ISO 50001 (Energy Management) to measure, manage and improve the energy and environmental performance of our data centers. In 2020, 46% of our global portfolio had ISO 14001 certifications and 28% of our global portfolio was covered under ISO 50001. Additionally, 100% of our Singapore portfolio was certified under the SS564 Green Data Centres standard for Energy and Environmental Management Systems.

Water Management

a) 2020 Water Data ⁽¹⁾

Water Withdrawal Data Coverage as % of Floor Area	% of Floor Area with 40% or Greater Baseline Water Stress (2)	Total Water Withdrawn by Portfolio Area with Data Coverage (cubic meters, in thousands) (3)	% of Water Withdrawn with 40% or Greater Baseline Water Stress (2)	Like-for-Like Change in Water Withdrawals (4)
80%	32%	5,385	50%	-6%

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(1) The most recent full year for which water data is available is 2020. The scope of data coverage involves managed and non-managed assets. The scope of water withdrawals is aligned with the 2020 GRESB Real Estate Assessment Reference Guide. In 2020, 99% of the Company’s portfolio consisted of data center space along with limited accessory uses, predominantly office. These secondary space types are not broken out by subsector.

(2) Based on properties classified as High or Extremely High Baseline Water Stress determined by the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Water Risk Atlas tool, Aqueduct. Includes properties that have complete water withdrawal data coverage.

(3) The scope of water consumed includes potable water and non-potable water purchased from third-party suppliers and water reused.

(4) Scope of data is aligned with the 2020 GRESB Real Estate Assessment Reference Guide (“Like-for-like Comparison”).

b) Water Management Risks and Mitigation Strategies

Some of our assets are in regions of high or extremely high baseline water stress and may face future risk of water scarcity, higher water costs, and regulatory constraints on water consumption. We consider water availability, cost, and alternate supply solutions to potable water such as municipally supplied non-potable reclaimed water, which accounted for 43% of our total water usage in 2020. We also consider cooling system designs to maximize ‘free cooling’ and reduce or eliminate reliance on access to water for cooling. Our Global Water Strategy addresses the strategic role that water plays in our operations, identifies regions where water quality and scarcity pose the greatest interruption risk to our business, and creates a pipeline of projects and opportunities to advance our position with respect to water conservation, resiliency, and redundancy in our operations.

Management of Tenant Sustainability Impacts

a) 2020 Tenant Sustainability

% of New Leases with Cost Recovery Clause for Efficiency Improvements (1)	Leased Floor Area of New Leases with Cost Recovery Clause (Square Feet)	% of Total Leased Floor Area with Cost Recovery Clauses (2)	% of Leased Floor Area that is Separately Metered for Electricity Consumption (3)
25%	6,394	41%	84%

(1) Data provided for new data center scale leases signed and excludes colocation and Powered Base Building agreements.

(2) Total leased floor area excludes non-managed unconsolidated entities, vacant space, space held for development, space under active development, Powered Base Building, colocation, and non-technical space.

(3) Excludes unconsolidated entities, vacant space, space held for development, space under active development, and non-technical space. Water use is predominantly driven by shared cooling infrastructure, common areas, and exterior landscape irrigation and is not separately metered.

b) Approach to measuring, incentivizing and improving sustainability impacts of tenants

We seek to incorporate “green lease” language into agreements with new customers where energy is separately metered, and we endeavor to incorporate green lease language into renewals. We launched our green lease program for applicable contract types to better align interests between landlord and tenants to incentivize energy and resource efficiency investments, share energy and water usage data, streamline renewable energy procurement and support sustainable building certifications.

Climate Change Adaptation

a) Properties located in 100-Year Flood Zones

Eight U.S. data centers totaling about 2.08 million square feet are exposed to 100-year flood zones designated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) as special flood hazard areas (“SFHA”). No other non-U.S. sites are in 100-year flood zones or similar high hazard locations.

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b) Climate Change Risks and Mitigation Strategies

We evaluate potential risks and opportunities as a result of climate change and have implemented strategies to mitigate risks and capitalize on opportunities. Climate change risks that we have identified include acute and chronic physical risks, as well as transition risks such as market, policy, reputational, and technology risks. Management of climate-related risks and opportunities is a company-wide priority, delivered through an interdisciplinary effort with contributions from our global operations team, risk management, environmental occupational health and safety, compliance, information security, physical security and other functions, with oversight by our Executive Leadership Team and governed by our Board of Directors. We manage potential risks first via our siting and design standards, then by implementing recommendations to proactively mitigate losses related to short-term acute weather events as well as long-term climate-related events. Climate resilience measures include maintaining appropriate levels of insurance for each asset, performing climate risk scenario analyses for a sample selection of our global portfolio, and implementing operational risk reduction measures at the site level. We continue to align our ESG Report with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (“TCFD”) to disclose specific climate-related financial risks and opportunities, mitigation strategies, and associated metrics and targets.

Competition

We compete with numerous data center providers globally, many of whom own or operate properties similar to ours in some of the same metropolitan areas where our data centers are located, including Equinix, Inc. and NTT; Switch, Inc. and various private operators in the U.S.; as well as Global Switch Holdings Limited and various regional operators in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. See "We face significant competition, which may adversely affect the occupancy and rental rates of our data centers." in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Regulation

General

Our properties are subject to various laws, ordinances and regulations, including regulations relating to common areas. We believe each of our properties as of December 31, 2021 has the necessary permits and approvals to operate.

Americans with Disabilities Act

Our properties must comply with Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, or the ADA, to the extent that such properties are “public accommodations” as defined by the ADA. We believe our properties are in substantial compliance with the ADA and that we will not be required to make substantial capital expenditures to address the requirements of the ADA. However, non-compliance with the ADA could result in imposition of fines or an award of damages to private litigants. The obligation to make accommodations in accordance with the ADA, as well as other applicable laws and regulations is an ongoing one, and we will continue to assess our properties and make alterations as appropriate in this respect. See “We may incur significant costs complying with applicable laws and governmental regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.” in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Environmental Matters

We are exposed to various environmental risks that may result in unanticipated losses and could affect our operating results and financial condition. Either the previous owners or we have conducted environmental reviews on a majority of the properties we have acquired, including land. While some of these assessments have led to further investigation and sampling, none of the environmental assessments have revealed an environmental liability that we believe would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations. See "We could incur significant costs related to environmental matters, including from government regulation, private litigation, and existing conditions at some of our properties." in Item 1A. Risk Factors for further discussion.

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Climate change legislation. In June 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved comprehensive clean energy and climate change legislation intended to cut greenhouse gas, or GHG, emissions, via a cap-and-trade program. The U.S. Senate did not subsequently pass similar legislation.

In the absence of comprehensive federal climate change legislation, regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, and states have taken the lead in regulating GHG emissions in the U.S. Under the Obama administration, from 2009 through 2016, the EPA moved aggressively to regulate GHG emissions from automobiles and large stationary sources, including electricity producers, using its authority under the Clean Air Act. From 2017 through 2020, the Trump administration moved to eliminate or modify certain of the EPA’s GHG emissions regulations and refocus the EPA’s mission away from such regulation. However, the Biden administration has described climate change regulation as a top priority, announcing in April 2021 a target of reducing net U.S. GHG emissions by 50-52 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

The EPA made an endangerment finding in 2009 that allows it to create regulations imposing emissions reporting, permitting, control technology installation, and monitoring requirements applicable to certain emitters of GHGs, including facilities that provide electricity to our data centers, although the materiality of the impacts will not be fully known until all regulations are finalized and legal challenges are resolved. Under the Obama administration, the EPA finalized rules imposing permitting and control technology requirements upon certain newly-constructed or modified facilities which emit GHGs under the Clean Air Act New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration, or NSR PSD, and Title V permitting programs. As a result, newly-issued NSR PSD and Title V permits for new or modified electricity generating units (EGUs) and other facilities may need to address GHG emissions, including by requiring the installation of “Best Available Control Technology.” The EPA also implemented in December 2015 the “Clean Power Plan” regulating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from coal-fired and natural gas EGUs. However, in June 2019 the EPA repealed the Clean Power Plan and issued the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule” to replace the Clean Power Plan. The Affordable Clean Energy Rule requires heat rate efficiency improvements at certain EGUs, but does not place numeric limits on EGU emissions. In January 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated both the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and the Clean Power Plan repeal rule, and the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal of this ruling. In fall 2021, the EPA announced plans to propose in summer 2022 a new rule regulating GHG emissions from existing power plants. Separately, the EPA’s GHG “reporting rule” requires that certain emitters, including electricity generators, monitor and report GHG emissions.

As a result of the former Trump administration policies, states have been driving regulation to reduce GHG emissions in the United States. At the state level, California implemented a GHG cap-and-trade program that began imposing compliance obligations on industrial sectors, including electricity generators and importers, in January 2013. In September 2016, California adopted legislation calling for a further reduction in GHG emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030, and in July 2017, California extended its cap-and-trade program through 2030. In September 2018, California adopted legislation that will require all of the state’s electricity to come from carbon-free sources by 2045. As other examples of state action, in May 2021, Washington passed a law capping GHG emissions from electricity generators and other entities, and in December 2021 Oregon adopted a GHG cap-and-trade program. Additionally, a number of states have adopted Renewable Portfolio Standards to increase the use of renewable energy, and a number of eastern states participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a market-based program aimed at reducing GHG emissions from power plants.

Outside the United States, the European Union, or EU (as well as the United Kingdom), have been operating since 2005 under a cap-and-trade program, which directly affects the largest emitters of GHGs, including electricity producers from whom we purchase power, and the EU has taken a number of other climate change-related initiatives, including a directive targeted at improving energy efficiency (which introduces energy efficiency auditing requirements). In December 2019, EU leaders endorsed the objective of achieving by 2050 a climate-neutral EU, with net-zero GHG emissions, and in July 2021 the European Commission adopted the European Climate Law to write this goal into the law. The European Climate Law includes a 2030 GHG reduction target of at least 55% below 1990 levels. In July 2021 the European Commission also adopted a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism to institute a carbon import tax, which covers electricity imports. National legislation may also be implemented independently by members of the EU. It is not

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yet clear how Brexit will impact the United Kingdom’s approach to climate change regulation; the United Kingdom adopted a target of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050.

The Paris Agreement, which was adopted by the United States and 194 other countries and looks to prevent global average temperatures from increasing by more than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, went into force in November 2016. President Trump announced in June 2017 that he would initiate the process to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement; however, upon his inauguration in January 2021, President Biden signed an order rejoining the Paris Agreement.

The Canadian Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act established a carbon-pricing regime that went into effect in January 2019 for provinces and territories in Canada where there is no provincial system in place already, or where the provincial system does not meet the federal benchmark. The act was challenged in court and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada in March 2021. Climate change regulations are also in various stages of implementation in other nations as well, including nations where we operate, such as Japan, Singapore, and Australia.

Insurance

We carry commercial general liability, property, and business interruption insurance, including rental income loss coverage on all of the properties in our portfolio under a blanket program. We select policy specifications and insured limits which we believe to be appropriate given the relative risk of loss, the cost of coverage, and industry practice. We believe the properties in our portfolio are adequately insured. We do not carry insurance for generally uninsured exposures such as loss from war or nuclear reaction. In addition, we carry earthquake insurance on our properties in an amount and with deductibles we believe are commercially reasonable. We intend to partially fund the earthquake insurance deductibles through a captive insurance company we established. Certain of the properties in our portfolio are located in areas known to be seismically active. See “Potential losses may not be covered by insurance.” in Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Human Capital Resource Management

As of December 31, 2021, we had 3,030 full-time employees. The geographic distribution of our global employee base as of December 31, 2021 is summarized in the following table.

Region	Number of Employees
North America	1,393
Europe	1,481
Asia Pacific	156
Total	3,030

Compensation, Benefits and Employee Wellbeing

To attract and retain the best-qualified talent and to help our employees maintain healthy and balanced lives, and meet their financial and retirement goals, we offer competitive benefits, including market-competitive compensation, healthcare, flexible vacation, parental leave, 401(k) company match, an employee stock purchase plan, fitness reimbursement program, commuter benefits, tuition reimbursement, employee skills development and leadership development. Employee surveys are conducted regularly to solicit feedback and to help prioritize and improve employee engagement.

We also encourage our employees to give back to the community by matching their contributions to eligible charitable organizations through our Matching Gifts Program. Additionally, our Donate 8 Program grants paid time off each year to employees for the purpose of volunteering for eligible organizations. We also sponsor and support the Women’s Leadership Forum, the Black Employee Resource Group, Digital Pride, the Hispanic Employee Resource Group, and the Veterans Employee Group, which promote a diverse and inclusive network to grow and deliver the next wave of digital innovation.

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We prioritize providing programs and benefits that promote healthy and productive lifestyles. We offer a company-wide wellness program, Wellness@Digital, that serves to invest in the health, fitness, financial wellness and overall quality of life for our employees. We implement wellness challenges that promote physical activity and an active lifestyle, with additional price incentivizes for winners of the challenges.

During 2021, we sought to play an active role in supporting the communities we operate in across North America, EMEA and APAC. This included companywide giving focused on our four areas of philanthropic focus (disaster relief, STEM, sustainability and diversity, equity and inclusion).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

It is our Company’s policy to recruit talent based on skill, knowledge, attitude and experience, without discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, age, family status, ethnic origin, nationality, disability or religious belief. In 2020, we formally launched our DEI Employee Leadership Council to assess the current state of our diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) initiatives beyond the Women’s Leadership Forum and Veteran’s employee resource groups. The Council identifies future opportunities for progress, formulates a cohesive strategy, and ultimately leads our global DEI effort. The DEI Council is led by employees spanning various management levels and global regions with program support from our executive management team. Since 2020, the Company has launched three new employee resource groups (ERGs)—Digital Pride (LGBTQI+), the Black ERG, and the Hispanic ERG. Today, more than 500 employees globally are members of Digital Realty’s ERGs.

Digital Realty’s DEI focus and work is set with the “tone from the top” from Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein. He has signed the CEO Action Pledge for Diversity & Inclusion, the largest CEO-driven business commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Mr. Stein is Co-Chair of Nareit’s Dividends through Diversity, Equity & Inclusion CEO Council, seeking to advance diversity and inclusion throughout our industry. In 2021, we published our EEO-1 report, providing transparency on the racial and gender composition of our U.S. workforce. We disclose our DEI strategy and initiatives annually in our ESG Report.

COVID-19 Health and Safety

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have maintained a number of health and safety measures to enable our operations teams to continue to work from our data centers and construction sites. We require social distancing in accordance with the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health agency guidelines, have made modifications to our facilities, including posting signage detailing health and safety protocols, engage in regular sanitation, and require all visitors and employees to wear facial coverings. We have also modified staffing levels to avoid potential cross contamination among teams, and have instituted customer, employee and visitor screening. Together with our operations teams, we have implemented innovative approaches to maintain our high standards of customer service, including virtual data center tours to ensure that activities typically accomplished on-site or in-person continued throughout periods of reduced travel. Our non-essential and corporate personnel adopted a work-from-home approach beginning in March 2020, which has continued without significant impacts to productivity. In January 2022, we began to reopen various offices allowing corporate employees to create hybrid work schedules. Refer to the discussion in Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis for further information related to the impact of the pandemic on our business.

Available Information

All reports we file with the SEC are available free of charge via EDGAR through the SEC website at www.sec.gov. We will also provide copies of our Forms 8-K, Forms 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Proxy Statements and amendments to those documents at no charge to investors upon request and make electronic copies of such reports available through our website at www.digitalrealty.com as soon as reasonably practicable after filing such material with the SEC. The information found on, or otherwise accessible through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, nor does it form a part of, this report or any other document that we file with the SEC.

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Offices

Our headquarters are located in Austin, Texas. We have regional U.S. offices in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Northern Virginia, Phoenix and San Francisco and regional international offices in Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

Reports to Security Holders

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is required to send an annual report to its securityholders and to our Operating Partnership’s unitholders.

ITEM 1A.      RISK FACTORS

For purposes of this section, the term “stockholders” means the holders of shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s common stock and preferred stock. Set forth below are the risks that we believe are material to Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s stockholders and Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s unitholders. You should carefully consider the following factors in evaluating our Company, our properties and our business. The occurrence of any of the following risks might cause Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s stockholders and Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s unitholders to lose all or a part of their investment. Some statements in this report, including statements in the following risk factors, constitute forward-looking statements. Please refer to the section entitled “Forward-Looking Statements” starting on page 45.

Overview

Our business, operations and financial results are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those described below, that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and the trading price of our common stock and preferred stock. The following material factors, among others, could cause our actual results to differ materially from historical results and those expressed in forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf in filings with the SEC, press releases, communications with investors and oral statements. The risks that we describe in our public filings are not the only risks that we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently consider immaterial, also may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Risk Factors Summary

The following is a summary of the principal risks that could adversely affect our business, operations and financial results.

Risk Related to Our Business and Operations

● Our business and operations, and our customers, suppliers and business partners may be adversely affected by epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks.

● Our business depends upon the demand for data centers.

● We face significant competition, which may adversely affect the occupancy and rental rates of our data centers.

● Any failure of our physical or information technology or operational technology infrastructure or services could lead to significant costs and disruptions.

● We may be vulnerable to breaches, or unauthorized access to, or disruption of our physical and information technology and operational technology infrastructure and systems.

● We depend on significant customers, and many of our data centers are single-tenant properties or are currently occupied by single tenants.

● Failure to attract, grow and retain a diverse and balanced customer base, including key magnet customers, could harm our business and operating results.

● Our contracts with our customers could subject us to significant liability.

● Certain of our customer agreements may include restrictions on the sale of our properties to certain third parties, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

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● Our data centers may not be suitable for re-leasing without significant expenditures or renovations.

● We may be unable to lease vacant or development space, renew leases, or re-lease space as leases expire.

● Even if we have additional space available for lease at any one of our data centers, our ability to lease this space to existing or new customers could be constrained by our ability to provide sufficient electrical power.

● Our portfolio depends upon local economic conditions and is geographically concentrated in certain locations.

● We and our customers may experience supply chain or procurement disruptions, or increased supply chain costs, which may lead to delays.

● We lease or sublease certain of our data center space from third parties and the ability to retain these leases or subleases could be a significant risk to our ongoing operations.

● We may not be able to adapt to changing technologies and customer requirements, and our data center infrastructure may become obsolete.

● We depend upon third-party suppliers for power, and we are vulnerable to service failures and to price increases by such suppliers and to volatility in the supply and price of power in the open market.

● We depend on third parties to provide network connectivity to the customers in our data centers and any delays or disruptions in connectivity may materially adversely affect our operating results and cash flow.

● Our international activities, including acquisition, ownership and operation of data centers located outside of the United States, subject us to risks different than those we face in the United States and we may not be able to effectively manage our international business.

● The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union may have a negative effect on global economic conditions, financial markets and our business.

● Our recent acquisitions may not achieve the intended benefits or may disrupt our plans and operations.

● We may be subject to unknown or contingent liabilities related to our recent acquisitions, for which we may have no or limited recourse against the sellers.

● We may be unable to identify, including sourcing off-market deal flow, and complete acquisitions on favorable terms or at all.

● Joint venture (JV) investments could be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority, our reliance on our JV partners’ financial condition and disputes between us and our JV partners.

● Brazilian political and economic conditions could adversely affect our investment in the Ascenty joint venture.

● Any delays or unexpected costs in the development of our existing space and developable land and new properties acquired for development may delay and harm our growth prospects, future operating results and financial condition.

● Discontinuation, reform or replacement of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark rates, or uncertainty related to the potential for any of the foregoing, may adversely affect our business.

● We have substantial debt and face risks associated with the use of debt to fund our business activities, including refinancing and interest rate risks.

● Our growth depends on external sources of capital which are outside of our control.

● Declining real estate valuations, impairment charges and illiquidity of real estate investments could adversely affect our earnings and financial condition.

● Our success depends on key personnel whose continued service is not guaranteed.

● We may have difficulty managing our growth.

● Potential losses may not be covered by insurance.

● We could incur significant costs related to environmental matters, including from government regulation, private litigation, and existing conditions at some of our properties.

● Our properties may contain or develop harmful mold or suffer from other air quality issues, which could lead to liability for adverse health effects and costs to remedy the problem.

● We may incur significant costs complying with applicable laws and governmental regulations, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

● Our business could be adversely impacted if there are deficiencies in our disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting.

Risks Related to the Organizational Structure

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● Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s duty to its stockholders may conflict with the interests of Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s unitholders.

● Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s charter, Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s partnership agreement and Maryland law contain provisions that may delay, defer or prevent a change of control transaction.

● Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s rights and the rights of its stockholders to take action against its directors and officers are limited.

Risks Related to Taxes and Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s Status as a REIT

● Failure to qualify as a REIT would have significant adverse consequences to Digital Realty Trust, Inc. and its stockholders and to Digital Realty Trust, L.P. and its unitholders.

● In certain circumstances, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. may be subject to federal and state taxes as a REIT, which would reduce its cash available for distribution to its stockholders.

● To maintain Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s REIT status, we may be forced to borrow funds during unfavorable market conditions.

● Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

● The tax imposed on REITs engaging in “prohibited transactions” may limit our ability to engage in transactions which would be treated as sales for federal income tax purposes.

● Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities or liquidate otherwise attractive investments.

● The power of Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s Board of Directors to revoke Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s REIT election without stockholder approval may cause adverse consequences to Digital Realty Trust, Inc.’s stockholders and Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s unitholders.

● If Digital Realty Trust L.P. were to fail to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes, Digital Realty Trust, Inc. would fail to qualify as a REIT and suffer other adverse consequences.

● Changes in U.S. or foreign tax laws and regulations, including changes to tax rates, legislation and other actions may adversely affect our results of operations, our stockholders, Digital Realty Trust, L.P.’s unitholders and us.

● Tax liabilities and attributes inherited in connection with acquisitions may adversely impact our business.

Risks Related to Our Business and Operations

Our business and operations, and our customers, suppliers and business partners may be adversely affected by epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks.

Epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus that affect countries or regions in which we or our customers, suppliers or business partners operate, and actions taken to contain or prevent their further spread, may have a material and adverse impact on general commercial activity and on our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and creditworthiness. Epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus could result in significant governmental measures being implemented to control the spread of such illness, disease or virus, including quarantines, travel restrictions, manufacturing restrictions, declarations of states of emergency, business shutdowns, prioritization and allocation of resources, and restrictions on the movement of our employees and those of our customers, suppliers and business partners on which we rely, which could adversely affect our ability and their respective abilities to adequately manage our respective businesses. Risks related to epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus could also lead to the complete or partial closure of one or more of our offices or properties or our customers’, suppliers’ or business partners’ businesses, or otherwise result in significant disruptions to our business and operations or theirs. Such events could materially and adversely impact our operations and the rental revenue we generate from our agreements with our customers or could result in defaults by our customers.

As with COVID-19, we may institute policies requiring employees to work remotely in certain cases and such policies may remain in place for an indeterminate amount of time or may be made mandatory by relevant government authorities. There can be no assurance that remote working arrangements will be as effective as an office environment. Moreover, pandemics or outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus could disrupt our supply chain and development activities, which could impact our ability to meet delivery timelines, including delivery timelines to our customers, and lead to delays, potential penalties that we may be required to pay and potential terminations of agreements by our customers. If any such delay or disruption were to occur, it could have a material adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition. In

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addition, risks related to epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus may adversely affect the economies in impacted countries, including in locations where we operate, and the global financial markets, including the global debt and equity capital markets, may experience significant volatility, potentially leading to an economic downturn that could adversely affect our and our customers’, suppliers’ and business partners’ respective businesses, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects. We have in the past and expect in the future to rely on the availability of debt and equity capital to grow our business; however, there can be no assurance that such capital will be available to us going forward on acceptable terms or at all. The ultimate extent of the impact of any epidemic, pandemic or other outbreak of an illness, disease or virus on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information that may emerge concerning the severity of such epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus and actions taken to contain or prevent their further spread, among others. These and other potential impacts of epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks of an illness, disease or virus could therefore materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects.

In particular, the global spread of COVID-19 and the various attempts to contain it have created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. The global impact of the outbreak has been rapidly evolving and federal and local governments, including in locations where we operate, have responded by instituting quarantines, restrictions on travel, restrictions on the types of business that may continue to operate, and restrictions on various construction projects. In response to government mandates, health care advisories and otherwise responding to employee and vendor concerns, we have altered certain aspects of our operations. Our workforce, excluding our critical data center employees, is working from home, which may impact their productivity. We have also experienced delays in construction activity in a few of our markets due to government restrictions in specific locations and as a result of availability of labor and these delays are impacting some of our anticipated deliveries to our customers. We may continue to experience delays in construction activity, even after these restrictions are eased or lifted, due to increased safety protocols implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition, we cannot predict the impact that COVID-19 will have on our customers, suppliers and other business partners; however, any material effect on these parties could adversely impact us. While we did not have any material adjustments to amounts as of and during the year ended December 31, 2021, circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic could potentially result in recording impairments, lease modifications and credit losses in future periods.

While we did not experience significant disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic during the year ended December 31, 2021 nor as of the date of this report, we cannot predict what impact the COVID-19 pandemic may have on our future financial condition, results of operations and cash flows due to numerous uncertainties. The full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and the various responses to it impacts our business, operations and financial results will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict, including: the duration and scope of the pandemic; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic; the availability of and cost to access the capital markets; the effect on our customers and customer demand for and ability to pay for our services; the impact on our development projects; and disruptions or restrictions on our employees’ ability to work and travel. Furthermore, we cannot predict whether additional restrictions will be implemented or how long they will be in effect. Although some governments have begun to ease or lift these restrictions, the impacts from the severe disruptions caused by the effective shutdown of large segments of the global economy remain unknown.

Our business depends upon the demand for data centers.

We are in the business of owning, acquiring, developing and operating data centers. A reduction in the demand for data center space, power or connectivity would have a greater adverse effect on our business and financial condition than if we owned a portfolio with a less specialized use. Our substantial development activities make us particularly susceptible to general economic slowdowns as well as adverse developments in the data center, Internet and data communications and broader technology industries. Any such slowdown or adverse development could lead to reduced corporate IT spending or reduced demand for data center space. Reduced demand could also result from business relocations, including to metropolitan areas that we do not currently serve. Changes in industry practice or in technology could also reduce demand for the physical data center space we provide. In addition, our customers may choose to develop new data centers or expand their own existing data centers or consolidate into data centers that we do not own or operate, which could reduce demand for our newly developed data centers or result in the loss of one or more key customers. If

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any of our key customers were to do so, it could result in a loss of business to us or put pressure on our pricing. Mergers or consolidations of technology companies could reduce further the number of our customers and potential customers and make us more dependent on a more limited number of customers. If our customers merge with or are acquired by other entities that are not our customers, they may discontinue or reduce the use of our data centers in the future. Our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, cash available for distribution and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected as a result of any or all of these factors.

We face significant competition, which may adversely affect the occupancy and rental rates of our data centers.

We compete with numerous data center providers globally, many of whom own or operate properties similar to ours in some of the same metropolitan areas where our data centers are located, including Equinix, Inc. and NTT; Switch, Inc. and various private operators in the U.S.; as well as Global Switch Holdings Limited and various regional operators in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. In addition, we may in the future face competition from new entrants into the data center market, including new entrants who may acquire our current competitors. Some of our competitors and potential competitors have significant advantages over us, including greater name recognition, longer operating histories, pre-existing relationships with current or potential customers, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources and more ready access to capital which allow them to respond more quickly to new or changing opportunities.

If our competitors offer space that our customers or potential customers perceive to be superior to ours based on factors such as available power, security, location, or connectivity, or if they offer rental rates below current market rates, or below the rental rates we are offering, we may lose customers or potential customers or be required to incur costs to improve our data centers or reduce our rental rates. In addition, recently many of our competitors have developed and continue to develop additional data center space. If the supply of data center space continues to increase as a result of these activities or otherwise, rental rates may be reduced or we may face delays in leasing or be unable to lease our vacant space, including space that we develop. Further, if customers or potential customers desire services that we do not offer, we may not be able to lease our space to those customers. Our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, cash available for distribution and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected as a result of any or all of these factors.

Any failure of our physical or information technology or operational technology infrastructure or services could lead to significant costs and disruptions.

Our business depends on providing customers with highly reliable services, including with respect to power supply, physical security and maintenance of environmental conditions. We may fail to provide such service as a result of numerous factors, including mechanical failure, power outage, human error, physical or electronic security breaches, war, terrorism, fire, earthquake, pandemics, hurricane, flood and other natural disasters, sabotage and vandalism. Our systems may be susceptible to damage, interference, or interruption from modifications or upgrades, power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, ransomware attacks, computer denial of service attacks, phishing schemes, or other attempts to harm or access our systems.

Problems at one or more of our data centers, whether or not within our control, could result in service interruptions or equipment damage. Substantially all of our customer agreements include terms requiring us to meet certain service level commitments to our customers. Any failure to meet these or other commitments or any equipment damage in our data centers, including as a result of mechanical failure, power outage, human error or other reasons, could subject us to liability under the terms of our customer agreements, including service level credits against customer rent payments, monetary damages, or, in certain cases of repeated failures, the right by the customer to terminate the agreement. Service interruptions, equipment failures or security breaches may also expose us to additional legal liability and monetary damages and damage our brand and reputation, and could cause our customers to terminate or not renew their agreements. In addition, we may be unable to attract new customers if we have a reputation for service disruptions, equipment failures or physical or electronic security breaches in our data centers. Any such failures could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be vulnerable to breaches, or unauthorized access to, or disruption of our physical and information technology and operational technology infrastructure and systems.

Security breaches, or disruption, of our or our customers’ physical or information technology or operational technology infrastructure, networks and related management systems and controls could result in, among other things, unauthorized

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access to our facilities, a breach of our and our customers’ networks and information technology infrastructure, the misappropriation of our or our customers’ or their customers’ proprietary or confidential information, interruptions or malfunctions in our or our customers’ operations, delays or interruptions to our ability to meet customer needs, breach of our legal, regulatory or contractual obligations, inability to access or rely upon critical business records or other disruptions in our operations. We may be required to expend significant financial resources to protect against or to remediate such security breaches. We may not be able to implement security measures in a timely manner or, if and when implemented, these measures could be circumvented. Any breaches that may occur could expose us to increased risk of lawsuits, material monetary damages, potential violations of applicable privacy and other laws, penalties and fines, loss of existing or potential customers, harm to our reputation and increases in our security and insurance costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Although our customers’ computing equipment resides in our buildings, we generally do not have access to, nor do we have knowledge of, what applications and data are being housed and processed on their equipment. In certain instances, we provide digital infrastructure and platforms as a service to our customers, which increases the risk of loss of data, and we may expand these aspects of our business. In the event of a breach resulting in loss of data, such as personally identifiable information or other such data protected by data privacy or other laws, we may be liable for damages, fines and penalties for such losses under applicable regulatory frameworks despite not handling the data. Further, the regulatory framework around data custody, data privacy and breaches varies by jurisdiction and is an evolving area of law. For example, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and any subsequent amended versions of it, and similar regulations that apply to our business globally may have significant impact on our compliance frameworks and operations. If we fail to comply with these various regulations, we may have to pay fines or damages. We may not be able to limit our liability or damages in the event of such a loss.

We have made, and continue to make, investments to update and modernize our information technology systems and expect such investments to continue in order to meet our business needs, including for ongoing improvements for our customer experience. Additionally, as part of our global platform strategy, we have acquired and invested in, and continue to acquire and invest in, businesses and operations globally, including in new regions with complex and evolving regulatory frameworks and different risk profiles. Transitioning to new or upgraded systems, and integrating acquired networks and data, can create difficulties, including potential disruptions to current processes and cybersecurity complexities. In addition, our information technology systems may require further modification as we grow and as our business needs change, which could prolong difficulties we experience with such transitions and integrations. Such significant investments in our systems may take longer to deploy and cost more than originally planned. In addition, we may not realize the full benefits we hoped to achieve, and we may need to expend significant attention, time and resources to correct problems or find alternative sources for performing various functions. Difficulties in implementing new or upgraded information or operational technology systems or significant system failures or delays or the failure to successfully modify our systems and respond to changes in our business needs could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

We depend on significant customers, and many of our data centers are single-tenant properties or are currently occupied by single tenants.

As of December 31, 2021, the 20 largest customers in our portfolio represented approximately 49.2% of the total annualized recurring revenue generated by our properties. Our top three customers represented approximately 17.5% of the total annualized recurring revenue generated by our properties as of December 31, 2021. In addition, 45 of our 287 data centers are occupied by single customers, including data centers occupied solely by our top three customers. Many factors, including global economic conditions, may cause our customers to experience a downturn in their businesses or otherwise experience a lack of liquidity, which may weaken their financial condition and impact our estimates as to the probability of collectability of payments, and ultimately result in their failure to make timely rental and other payments or their default under their agreements with us. Further, the development of new technologies, the adoption of new industry standards or other factors could render many of our customers’ current products and services obsolete or unmarketable and contribute to a downturn in their businesses, thereby increasing the likelihood that they default under their leases, become insolvent or file for bankruptcy. If any customer defaults or fails to make timely rent or other payments, we may experience delays in enforcing our rights as landlord and may incur substantial costs in protecting our investment, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

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If any customer becomes a debtor in a case under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, we cannot evict the customer solely because of the bankruptcy. In addition, the bankruptcy court might authorize the customer to reject and terminate its contracts with us. Our claim against the customer for unpaid, future rent and other payments would be subject to a statutory cap that might be substantially less than the remaining amounts actually owed under their agreements with us. In either case, our claim for unpaid rent and other amounts would likely not be paid in full. Our revenue and cash available for distribution could be materially adversely affected if any of our significant customers were to become bankrupt or insolvent, suffer a downturn in their businesses, fail to renew their contracts or renew on terms less favorable to us than their current terms. As of February 25, 2022, we had no material customers in bankruptcy.

Failure to attract, grow and retain a diverse and balanced customer base, including key magnet customers, could harm our business and operating results.

Our ability to attract, grow and retain a diverse and balanced customer base, consisting of enterprises, cloud service providers, network service providers, and digital economy customers, some of which we consider to be key magnets drawing in other customers, may affect our ability to maximize our revenues. Dense and desirable customer concentrations within a facility enable us to better generate significant interconnection revenues, which in turn increases our overall revenues. Our ability to attract customers to our data centers will depend on a variety of factors, including our product offerings, the presence of carriers, the overall mix of customers, the presence of key customers attracting business through ecosystems, the data center’s operating reliability and security and our ability to effectively market our product offerings. Our inability to develop, provide or effectively execute any of these factors may hinder the development, growth and retention of a diverse and balanced customer base and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our contracts with our customers could subject us to significant liability.

In the ordinary course of business, we enter into agreements with our customers pursuant to which we provide data center space, power, environmental controls, physical security and connectivity products to our customers. These contracts typically contain indemnification and liability provisions, in addition to service level commitments, which could potentially impose a significant cost on us in the event of losses arising out of certain breaches of such agreements, services to be provided by us or our subcontractors or from third-party claims. Customers increasingly are looking to pass through their regulatory obligations and other liabilities to their outsourced data center providers and we may not be able to limit our liability or damages in an event of loss suffered by such customers whether as a result of our breach of an agreement or otherwise. Further, liabilities and standards for damages and enforcement actions, including the regulatory framework applicable to different types of losses, vary by jurisdiction, and we may be subject to greater liability for certain losses in certain jurisdictions. Additionally, in connection with our acquisitions, we have assumed existing agreements with customers that may subject us to greater liability for such an event of loss. If such an event of loss occurred, we could be liable for material monetary damages and could incur significant legal fees in defending against such an action, which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Certain of our customer agreements may include restrictions on the sale of our properties to certain third parties, which could have a material adverse effect on us.

Certain of our customer agreements may prohibit us from selling certain properties to a third party unless specified conditions are met. The existence of such restrictions could hinder our ability to sell one or more of these properties, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our data centers may not be suitable for re-leasing without significant expenditures or renovations.

Because many of our data centers contain tenant improvements installed at our customers’ expense, they may be better suited for a specific data center user or technology industry customer and could require significant modification in order for us to re-lease vacant space to another data center user or technology industry customer. The tenant improvements may also become outdated or obsolete as the result of technological change, the passage of time or other factors. In addition, our development space will generally require substantial improvement to be suitable for data center use. For the same reason, our properties also may not be suitable for leasing to traditional office customers without significant expenditures or renovations.

As a result, we may be required to invest significant amounts or offer significant discounts to customers in order to lease or re-lease that space, either of which could adversely affect our financial and operating results.

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We may be unable to lease vacant or development space, renew leases, or re-lease space as leases expire.

At December 31, 2021, we owned approximately 7.2 million square feet of space under active development and approximately 2.7 million square feet of space held for future development. We intend to continue to add new space to our development inventory and to continue to develop additional space from this inventory. A portion of the space that we develop has been, and may continue to be, developed on a speculative basis, meaning that we do not have a signed customer agreement for the space when we begin the development process. We also develop space specifically for customers pursuant to agreements signed prior to beginning the development process. In those cases, if we fail to meet our development obligations under those agreements, these customers may be able to terminate the agreements and we would be required to find a new customer for this space. In addition, in certain circumstances we lease data center facilities prior to their completion. If we fail to complete the facilities in a timely manner, the customer may be entitled to terminate its agreement, seek damages or penalties against us or pursue other remedies and we may be required to find a new customer for the space. We cannot assure you that once we have developed space or land we will be able to successfully lease it at all, or at rates we consider favorable or expected at the time we commenced development. Further, once development of a data center facility is complete, we incur certain operating expenses even if there are no customers occupying any space. If we are not able to complete development in a timely manner or successfully lease the space that we develop, if development costs are higher than we currently estimate, or if rental rates are lower than expected when we began the project or are otherwise undesirable, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, cash available for distribution and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, as of December 31, 2021, customer agreements representing 23.8% of the square footage of the properties in our portfolio, excluding month-to-month leases and space held for development, were scheduled to expire through 2023, and an additional 17.2% of the net rentable square footage, excluding space held for development, was available to be leased. Some of this space may require substantial capital investment to meet the power and cooling requirements of our customers, or may no longer be suitable for their needs. In addition, we cannot assure you that customer agreements will be renewed or that our properties will be re-leased at all, or at net effective rental rates equal to or above the current average net effective rental rates. If the rental rates for our properties decrease, our existing customers do not renew their agreements, we do not lease or re-lease our available space, including newly developed space and space for which customer agreements are scheduled to expire, or it takes longer for us to lease or re-lease this space or for rents to commence on this space, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flow, cash available for distribution and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations could be materially adversely affected.

Additionally, a customer’s decision to lease space and power in one of our data centers and to purchase additional products typically involves a significant commitment of resources and due diligence on the part of our customers regarding the adequacy of our facilities. As a result, the leasing of data center space can have a long sales cycle, and we may expend significant time and resources in pursuing a particular transaction that may not result in revenue. Economic conditions, including market downturns, may further impact this long sales cycle by making it difficult for customers to plan future business activities, which could cause customers to slow spending or delay decision-making. Our inability to adequately manage the risks associated with the sales cycle may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Even if we have additional space available for lease at any one of our data centers, our ability to lease this space to existing or new customers could be constrained by our ability to provide sufficient electrical power.

As current and future customers increase their power footprint in our data centers over time, the corresponding reduction in available power could limit our ability to increase occupancy rates or network density within our existing data centers. Furthermore, at certain of our data centers, our aggregate maximum contractual obligation to provide power and cooling to our customers may exceed the physical capacity at such data centers if customers were to quickly increase their demand for power and cooling. If we are not able to increase the available power and/or cooling or move the customer to another location within our data centers with sufficient power and cooling to meet such demand, we could lose the customer as well as be exposed to liability under our customer agreements. In addition, our power and cooling systems are difficult and expensive to upgrade. Accordingly, we may not be able to efficiently upgrade or change these systems to meet new demands without incurring significant costs that we may not be able to pass on to our customers. Any such

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material loss of customers, liability or additional costs could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our portfolio depends upon local economic conditions and is geographically concentrated in certain locations.

Our portfolio is located in 50 metropolitan areas. As of December 31, 2021, our portfolio, including the 50 data centers held as investments in unconsolidated entities, was geographically concentrated in the following metropolitan areas:

	Percentage of
	December 31, 2021
Metropolitan Area	Total annualized rent (1)
Northern Virginia	19.5	%
Chicago	9.0	%
London	6.6	%
New York	6.2	%
Silicon Valley	6.1	%
Frankfurt	5.7	%
Dallas	5.5	%
Amsterdam	4.2	%
Sao Paulo	4.1	%
Singapore	4.0	%
Paris	2.2	%
Phoenix	2.0	%
San Francisco	1.9	%
Osaka	1.6	%
Atlanta	1.5	%
Other	19.9	%
Total	100.0	%

(1) Annualized rent is monthly contractual rent (defined as cash base rent before abatements) under existing leases as of December 31, 2021 multiplied by 12. Includes consolidated portfolio and unconsolidated entities at the entities’ 100% ownership level. The aggregate amount of abatements for the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $108.7 million.

Some of these areas have experienced downturns in recent years. We depend upon the local economic conditions in these areas, including local real estate conditions, and our operations, revenue and cash available for distribution could be materially adversely affected by a downturn in local economic conditions in these areas. Our operations may also be affected if too many competing properties are built in any of these areas or supply otherwise increases or exceeds demand. We cannot assure you that these locations will grow or will remain favorable to data center investments or operations. In addition, we are currently developing data centers in certain of these metropolitan areas. Any negative changes in real estate, technology or economic conditions in these metropolitan areas in particular could negatively impact our performance.

We lease or sublease certain of our data center space from third parties and the ability to retain these leases or subleases could be a significant risk to our ongoing operations.

We do not own all the buildings in our portfolio. These leased buildings accounted for approximately 15% of our total revenue for the year ended December 31, 2021. In addition, we may acquire additional leased data center space or businesses that lease facilities instead of owning them. Our business could be harmed if we are unable to renew the leases for these data centers on favorable terms or at all. Additionally, in several of our smaller facilities we sublease our space, and our rights under these subleases are dependent on our sublandlord retaining its rights under the prime lease. When the initial terms of our existing leases expire, we generally have the right to extend the terms of our leases for one or more renewal periods, subject to, in the case of several of our subleases, our sublandlord renewing its term under the prime lease. If renewal rates are less favorable than those we currently have, we may be required to increase revenues

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within existing data centers to offset such increase in lease payments. Failure to increase revenues to sufficiently offset these projected higher costs could adversely impact our operating income. Upon the end of our renewal options, we would have to renegotiate our lease terms with the applicable landlords.

Additionally, if we are unable to renew the lease at any of our data centers, we could lose customers due to the disruptions in their operations caused by the relocation. We could also lose those customers that choose our data centers based on their locations. The costs of relocating data center infrastructure equipment, such as generators, power distribution units and cooling units, to different data centers could be prohibitive and, as such, we could lose the value of this equipment. For these reasons, any lease that cannot be renewed could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We and our customers may experience supply chain or procurement disruptions, or increased supply chain costs, which may lead to delays.

The development of our data centers requires the timely delivery of required equipment and materials. We rely on third parties to provide the equipment and materials needed for our construction and development needs. Our global supply chain and development activities could be impacted by disruptions, such as political events, international trade disputes, war, terrorism, natural disasters, public health issues, industrial accidents, pandemics and other business interruptions, which could impact our ability to meet delivery timelines, including delivery timelines to our customers, and lead to delays, reputational damage, potential penalties that we may be required to pay and potential terminations of agreements by our customers. If any such delay or disruption were to occur, it could have an adverse effect on our liquidity and financial condition. Changes in the costs of procuring materials and equipment used in our construction and development programs, including vendor costs, or changes in our relationships with vendors, could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Similarly, our customers may experience supply chain or procurement disruptions, constraints and increased costs, which may impact their ability to deploy in our facilities, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have actively monitored our vendors and suppliers and remain in frequent communication with customers, contractors and suppliers. We have proactively managed our supply chain, and we believe the equipment needed will be delivered to complete our 2022 development activities. Although to date, we have been able to manage through disruptions in our supply chain and procurement process due to the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing disruptions could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition. However, the full extent and impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on our future supply chain and procurement process cannot be reasonably estimated at this time and it could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial condition.

We may not be able to adapt to changing technologies and customer requirements, and our data center infrastructure may become obsolete.

The technology industry generally and specific industries in which certain of our customers operate are characterized by rapidly changing technology, customer requirements and industry standards. New systems to deliver power to or eliminate heat in data centers or the development of new server technology that does not require the levels of critical load and heat removal that our facilities are designed to provide and could be run less expensively on a different platform could make our data center infrastructure obsolete. Our power and cooling systems are difficult and expensive to upgrade, and we may not be able to efficiently upgrade or change these systems to meet new demands without incurring significant costs that we may not be able to pass on to our customers which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the infrastructure that connects our data centers to the Internet and other external networks may become insufficient, including with respect to latency, reliability and connectivity. We may not be able to adapt to changing technologies or meet customer demands for new processes or technologies in a timely and cost-effective manner, if at all, which would adversely impact our ability to sustain and grow our business.

Further, our inability to adapt to changing customer requirements may make our data centers obsolete or unmarketable to such customers. Some of our customers operate at significant scale across numerous data center facilities and have designed cloud and computing networks with redundancies and fail-over capabilities across these facilities, which enhances the resiliency of their networks and applications. As a result, these customers may realize cost benefits by locating their data center operations in facilities with less electrical or mechanical infrastructure redundancy than is found in our existing data center facilities. Additionally, some of our customers have begun to operate their data centers

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using a wider range of humidity levels and at temperatures that are higher than servers customarily have operated at in the past, all of which may result in energy cost savings for these customers. We may not be able to operate our existing data centers under these environmental conditions, particularly in multi-tenant facilities with other customers who are not willing to operate under these conditions, and our data centers could be at a competitive disadvantage to facilities that satisfy such requirements. Because we may not be able to modify the redundancy levels or environmental systems of our existing data centers cost effectively, these or other changes in customer requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Additionally, due to regulations that apply to our customers as well as industry standards, such as ISO and SOC certifications which customers may deem desirable, they may seek specific requirements from their data centers that we are unable to provide. If new or different regulations or standards are adopted or such extra requirements are demanded by our customers, we could lose some customers or be unable to attract new customers in certain industries, which could materially and adversely affect our operations.

We depend upon third-party suppliers for power, and we are vulnerable to service failures and price increases by such suppliers and to volatility in the supply and price of power in the open market.

We rely on third parties to provide power to our data centers, and we cannot ensure that these third parties will deliver such power in adequate quantities or on a consistent basis. If the amount of power available to us is inadequate to support our customer requirements, we may be unable to satisfy our obligations to our customers or grow our business. In addition, our data centers may be susceptible to power shortages and planned or unplanned power outages caused by these shortages. Power outages may last beyond our backup and alternative power arrangements, which would harm our customers and our business. Any loss of services or equipment damage could adversely affect both our ability to generate revenues and our operating results, harm our reputation and potentially lead to customer disputes or litigation.

In addition, we may be subject to risks and unanticipated costs associated with obtaining power from various utility companies. Utilities that serve our data centers may be dependent on, and sensitive to price increases for, a particular type of fuel, such as coal, oil or natural gas. In addition, the price of these fuels and the electricity generated from them could increase as a result of: regulations intended to regulate carbon emissions and other pollutants, ratepayer surcharges related to recovering the cost of natural disasters, grid modernization charges, as well as other charges borne by ratepayers. Increases in the cost of power at any of our data centers could put those locations at a competitive disadvantage relative to data centers that are supplied power at a lower price.

We have also entered into power purchase agreements with contract terms ranging from 10-15 years. These agreements require us to purchase renewable energy and/or renewable energy credits from producers at fixed prices over the terms of the contracts, subject to certain adjustments. In the event that the market price for energy decreases, we may be required to pay more under the power purchase agreements than we would otherwise if we were to purchase renewable energy credits on the open market, which could adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, interruptions in the operations of one or more of the suppliers under these agreements, as a result of unpredictable weather, natural phenomena or otherwise, could negatively impact the quantity of renewable energy credits delivered to us.

We depend on third parties to provide network connectivity to the customers in our data centers and any delays or disruptions in connectivity may materially adversely affect our operating results and cash flow.

We are not a telecommunications carrier. Although our customers generally are responsible for providing their own network connectivity, we still depend upon the presence of telecommunications carriers’ fiber networks serving our data centers in order to attract and retain customers. We believe that the availability of carrier capacity will directly affect our ability to achieve our projected results. Any carrier may elect not to offer its services within our data centers. Any carrier that has decided to provide network connectivity to our data centers may not continue to do so for any period of time. Further, some carriers are experiencing business difficulties or have announced consolidations. As a result, some carriers may be forced to downsize or terminate connectivity within our data centers, which could have an adverse effect on the business of our customers and, in turn, our own operating results.

Our data centers may require construction and operation of a sophisticated redundant fiber network. The construction required to connect multiple carrier facilities to our data centers is complex and involves factors outside of our control, including regulatory requirements and the availability of construction resources. We have obtained the right to use network resources owned by other companies, including rights to use dark fiber, in order to attract telecommunications

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carriers and customers to our