The AI and tech briefing
Meta and SpaceX line up $77.5 billion for AI, one with stock and one with a lease
Meta priced $37.5 billion of stock early Tuesday, a day after SpaceX disclosed a binding commitment to a GPU lease with about $40 billion of principal payments.
Key figure: $77.5B, AI financing since Monday, Meta and SpaceX. SpaceX’s lease commitment plus Meta’s priced stock. Source: SpaceX Form 8-K; Meta pricing release; New Street sum.[1][2]
Key points
- Meta priced $25 billion of Class A common at $625 a share, upsized from $22.5 billion.[2]
- Meta also priced $12.5 billion of 6.50% mandatory convertible preferred stock.[2]
- SpaceX’s 8-K shows a binding commitment to a GPU finance lease, expected to close by year end.[1]
- SpaceX says the lease, with an Apollo-managed lessor, will deliver Nvidia Vera Rubin chips.[1][7]
Meta sells stock
Meta chose equity, which it says supports its investment in AI infrastructure; the common sale settles by Nov. 19, 2027.[2][3] An at-the-market sale of about $60 billion of Class C stock is planned for 2027.[3] Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom indicated non-binding interest in up to $5 billion of the common offering, Meta said, and Nvidia says it will invest $3 billion.[3][4]
SpaceX leases the hardware
Musk said Sunday that SpaceX “closed $40B of debt for GPUs.”[5] The 8-K describes a binding commitment letter dated Oct. 24, subject to closing conditions and expected to close before year end, with leases starting in the first half of 2027.[1][6] Quarterly rent covers one-twentieth of each tranche’s cost plus interest; at the full $40 billion, that principal is about $2 billion a quarter, by our math.[1] Goldman Sachs structured it, with anchor commitments from funds tied to BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and KKR, SpaceX says, calling it “the largest committed GPU financing.”[7]
Anthropic filed for its IPO on Monday, and banks and Blackstone arranged $63 billion for a vehicle that will buy Broadcom chips and lease them to Anthropic.[8][9]
Also Monday
OpenAI priced GPT-6.1 Terra at $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output, 50% below GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol, it says.[10][11] Microsoft opened a voluntary exit offer to eligible staff at level 70 and below in the U.S., Canada, India and the U.K., a company memo shows.[12]
Exhibit 1. AI financing from Meta and SpaceX since Monday $ billions, disclosed or priced Oct. 26 and 27
| Deal | $ billions | Status |
|---|---|---|
| SpaceX GPU lease (Apollo-managed lessor) | 40 | Binding commitment, expected to close before year end |
| Meta Class A common stock | 25 | Priced (forward sale, upsized from 22.5) |
| Meta mandatory convertible preferred | 12.5 | Priced |
Sources: SpaceX Form 8-K; Meta pricing release.[1][2] SpaceX figure is expected principal payments. Total: $77.5 billion, New Street sum. Table: New Street.
Exhibit 2. Two ways to pay for AI buildouts $ billions; when Meta gets the cash, or when SpaceX expects to close
| Deal | $B | Terms | Cash or close |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta common | 25.0 | $625 a share | By Nov. 19, 2027 |
| Meta preferred | 12.5 | 6.50%, converts Aug. 2029 | Oct. 29 |
| SpaceX lease | 40.0 | 5 to 5.25 yrs | By year end |
Sources: Meta pricing release; SpaceX Form 8-K and release.[1][2][7] Meta common settles under forward sale agreements; Meta preferred is mandatory convertible; SpaceX is a GPU finance lease. Table: New Street.
Notes
- Vendor and company claims are attributed to the company that made them.
Sources
- Form 8-K (Item 8.01), date of report Oct. 24, 2026, signed Oct. 26, 2026 (binding commitment letter dated Oct. 24 to enter a master finance lease with an entity managed by Apollo Global Management; lease schedules of about five to five and one-quarter years; quarterly rent "one-twentieth of the financed cost of the applicable tranche" plus a fixed rate to be set at pricing; aggregate principal payments of about $40 billion; subject to closing conditions, expected to close before year end; schedules expected to start in the first half of 2027; Exhibit 1 uses the expected aggregate principal payments; the $2 billion a quarter is New Street's calculation: $40 billion divided by 20, assuming all tranches are in place)
- Meta Announces Pricing of Offering of Depositary Shares Representing Series A Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock and Offering of Class A Common Stock in Connection with Forward Sale Agreements (Oct. 26, 2026, released 1:01 a.m. ET Oct. 27; 250 million depositary shares at $50 (6.50% mandatory convertible preferred, converting on or about Aug. 15, 2029); $25.0 billion of Class A common at $625.00, upsized from $22.5 billion, under forward sale agreements settling on or before Nov. 19, 2027; the $37.5 billion is New Street's sum: 250 million times $50, or $12.5 billion, plus $25.0 billion; the $77.5 billion is New Street's sum: Meta's $37.5 billion plus SpaceX's about $40 billion (note 1); both offerings expected to close Oct. 29, 2026)
- Meta Announces Launch of Offering of Depositary Shares ... (Oct. 26, 2026; planned ATM program of about $60 billion of Class C stock, not expected to start until the first quarter of 2027; timing, size and terms not determined; Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom indicated non-binding interest in up to $5.0 billion of the common offering; subheadline of the release: "Supports Meta's continued investment in AI infrastructure and personal superintelligence."; Nvidia's own $3 billion commitment is in note 4)
- NVIDIA and Meta to Expand Collaboration on Muse and Muse Family of Models Amid Robust Growth (Oct. 26, 2026; "NVIDIA will invest $3 billion in Meta's equity offering.")
- Post on X, Oct. 25, 2026 ("SpaceX closed $40B of debt for GPUs, but we're investment grade and have Starlink & launch revenue"; the 8-K terms in note 1 describe a commitment expected to close before year end)
- SpaceX locks in $40B GPU financing deal with Apollo (Oct. 26, 2026)
- SpaceX secures $40 billion in the largest GPU financing ever (Oct. 26, 2026; "largest committed GPU financing" is SpaceX's own claim; release says the lease will deliver the next generation of NVIDIA Vera Rubin chips; financing led by Apollo and Goldman Sachs (sole structuring agent), with anchor commitments from funds managed by BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management and capital accounts advised by KKR; expected to close prior to year-end 2026)
- Form S-1 registration statement, filed Oct. 26, 2026 (cited only for the filing date)
- Bank of America, Blackstone, Citi and Morgan Stanley Announce Landmark $63 Billion Financing Structure to Enable AI Compute Capacity in Partnership with Broadcom (Oct. 26, 2026; first lien arranged by Bank of America, Citi and Morgan Stanley; Blackstone sole provider of the committed portion of the second lien; deliveries expected from calendar 2027)
- Introducing GPT-6.1 Terra (Oct. 26, 2026; standard API pricing $1 per million input tokens and $5 per million output tokens; OpenAI says its standard API prices are 50% lower than GPT-5.6 Terra and GPT-6.1 Sol)
- "GPT-6.1 Terra" model page (text tokens: input $1 per 1M tokens, output $5 per 1M tokens)
- Introducing a Voluntary Exit Offer (Oct. 26, 2026; eligible employees in participating teams in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States at level 70 and below; the memo gives no headcount)