Josh Weiner
SpaceX’s effort to finalize a $40 billion off-balance-sheet financing structure for its artificial intelligence buildout has run into complications as recent market turmoil pushes up sector-wide borrowing costs and scrambles price negotiations with investors.
The financing is designed to fund purchases of Nvidia’s chips through a special purpose vehicle, a structure that would keep the resulting liabilities off SpaceX’s own balance sheet and help protect the company’s investment-grade credit ratings.
Goldman Sachs is leading discussions on the deal with a group of investors headed by Apollo Global Management, with the proposed financing structured across three tranches of privately placed bonds.
The largest piece is a subordinated tranche estimated at $25 billion to $30 billion, with the remaining financing split across additional tranches of roughly $10 billion and up to $5 billion.
Earlier discussions had placed yields on the subordinated portion of the debt in the mid-8% range, but worsening credit market conditions have forced renewed pricing negotiations as investors reassess the risk of financing large-scale AI infrastructure at this scale.
The deal's complications illustrate a broader shift in how credit markets are treating AI-related financing, with even a company as prominent as SpaceX facing tougher terms as investor appetite for large, off-balance-sheet AI infrastructure deals cools amid wider market volatility.
