Goldman Sachs Structures $40 Billion Chip Financing for SpaceX
Key Facts
On October 24, SpaceX entered into a binding commitment letter to execute a financing lease for graphics processing units and equipment, with expected aggregate principal payments of about $40 billion. The company said Apollo and Goldman Sachs led the financing, with Goldman serving as sole structuring agent. The arrangement involves leasing equipment from an entity managed by Apollo, rather than direct bank financing to purchase chips. The deal is expected to close before year-end. It represents one avenue for financing the infrastructure needed to expand AI.
SpaceX said the lease will provide Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin chips, describing it as the largest committed financing for GPUs. Lease schedules are expected to begin when the units are delivered in the first half of 2027. The expected payments are therefore tied to equipment delivery dates and lease schedules, rather than immediate spending to purchase chips. The structure gives the company equipment financing under a long-term commitment. Goldman's role in the deal is focused on structuring and leading the financing alongside Apollo.
In the equity market, Goldman took the lead left-manager role in Anthropic's planned initial public offering, while Morgan Stanley ranked second and served as stabilizing manager, according to Bloomberg Law. The offering filing did not specify a target price or size. In the Meta deal, Goldman and Morgan Stanley are joint bookrunners, according to the announced plan. Meta said any future open-market program had not been agreed, and its timing, size and terms had not been determined. Equity-linked financing plans therefore vary in how fully they have been disclosed and finalized.
Reuters estimates put potential equity deals for Meta and Anthropic at up to $195 billion, alongside SpaceX's $40 billion deal. Reuters said tighter credit and falling stocks are increasing financing costs. This context points to the AI infrastructure race relying on both equity and credit markets. But Anthropic's potential offering size has not been announced, and its filing did not specify a target price. The figures being discussed for fundraising are therefore subject to varying degrees of certainty.
The moves come as Meta reported revenue of $64.60 billion in the third quarter of 2026, up 26% year over year. Capital spending in the same quarter totaled $34.91 billion, including principal payments on finance leases. Meta also said Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom had expressed a willingness to buy shares worth a total of up to $5 billion. This combines expanding infrastructure spending with indications that chip suppliers may participate in financing the company through equity. Investors remain focused on whether this spending can generate the promised profits and productivity.
Meta shares fluctuated during the October 26 session, initially falling by more than 2%, then turning higher before ending trading down 1.9%, according to the Associated Press. EL7 data showed Goldman Sachs shares closed at $893.28, Meta at $630.56 and SpaceX at $146.9 in the same session. The agency said investors remained concerned about the cost of borrowing to build data centers and buy AI chips. Alphabet and Microsoft are due to report results on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday. Results from major technology companies this week may help assess whether spending is generating the profits and productivity its proponents have promised.