Goldman Sachs and Apollo Seek Buyers for $40 Billion SpaceX AI Chip Financing Deal

Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global Management are approaching institutional investors to sell portions of a roughly $40 billion financing package linked to SpaceX’s artificial intelligence infrastructure expansion. The financing will support the acquisition of Nvidia’s next-generation AI chips and related server equipment, which SpaceX plans to lease for its growing computing operations.

According to a Bloomberg report published on November 4, the two financial firms have started contacting potential investors ahead of a formal syndication process. Some investors are reportedly being asked to purchase stakes of up to $500 million. The transaction is one of the largest financing arrangements ever structured around graphics processing units (GPUs), highlighting the growing role of private capital in funding the global AI infrastructure boom.

Goldman Sachs and Apollo Approach Investors for $40 Billion Deal

The latest development concerns the distribution of a financing package that SpaceX had already announced in October.

Goldman Sachs and Apollo are working to bring additional institutional investors into the transaction by selling portions of the financing across multiple tranches.

The arrangement is designed to spread the financial exposure among banks, asset managers and other institutional investors rather than concentrating the entire commitment with a small group of financing partners.

Goldman Sachs is handling the loan portion of the transaction, while Apollo is playing a central role in the broader financing structure.

The reported approach to investors is part of the syndication process, through which financial institutions distribute portions of a large financing arrangement to other investors.

Reuters reported the Bloomberg development but said it could not independently verify the details. Goldman Sachs declined to comment to Reuters, while Apollo and SpaceX did not immediately respond to its requests.

How the SpaceX AI Chip Financing Structure Works

The financing uses a sale-and-leaseback arrangement.

Under this structure, an Apollo-managed entity will purchase Nvidia GPUs and related server equipment and lease the hardware to SpaceX.

This means SpaceX can obtain access to expensive computing infrastructure without directly purchasing all the equipment through its own balance sheet.

The financing is being arranged through an entity managed by Apollo Global Management. SpaceX’s October announcement confirmed an approximately $40 billion master finance lease with an Apollo-managed entity.

The structure involves several important components:

Component	Reported details
Total financing	Approximately $40 billion
Equipment purchase value	Approximately $47.3 billion
Hardware supplier	Nvidia
Chip generation	Vera Rubin
Senior-secured loan	$8.3 billion
Lease duration	A little over five years
Expected equipment delivery	First half of 2027
Expected transaction closing	Before the end of 2026

The equipment purchase value and financing principal are different figures. The approximately $47.3 billion represents the reported value of the GPU equipment, while the financing package involves approximately $40 billion in principal payments.

The arrangement is intended to help SpaceX secure substantial computing capacity while diversifying how it funds infrastructure expansion.

Nvidia’s Next-Generation Rubin Chips Are Central to the Deal

The financing will support the purchase of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin generation of AI computing hardware.

Advanced GPUs are essential for training and running large artificial intelligence models. They perform the parallel computations required for model training, inference and other demanding workloads.

Demand for these processors has increased as technology companies build large data centres to support generative AI, enterprise AI services and increasingly sophisticated AI agents.

SpaceX is expanding its computing infrastructure to support its artificial intelligence ambitions, including Grok and other computing services.

The company is also looking to provide computing capacity to external customers through its infrastructure business.

Securing a large supply of advanced Nvidia hardware could therefore help SpaceX expand its position in the AI computing market.

The equipment is expected to be delivered in the first half of 2027, with lease schedules beginning when the hardware arrives.

Why SpaceX Wants to Keep the Debt Off Its Balance Sheet

One of the most important features of the financing is its structure.

Rather than borrowing the entire amount directly, SpaceX is using an Apollo-managed entity to purchase the equipment and lease it back to the company.

This arrangement is designed to keep the associated financing off SpaceX’s corporate balance sheet and protect its credit ratings.

For a company investing heavily in artificial intelligence, rockets, satellites and other infrastructure, managing its financing structure is important.

Direct borrowing on a large scale could increase reported corporate debt and potentially affect borrowing costs.

A separate equipment-owning entity can provide another route to funding expensive infrastructure, although the economic obligations under the lease remain significant.

SpaceX will still need to make the agreed lease payments over the contract period. Keeping financing off the corporate balance sheet does not mean the company has no financial responsibility for the arrangement.

The lease structure therefore shifts the way the equipment is financed and owned, rather than eliminating the underlying cost of using it.

AI Infrastructure Spending Is Creating New Financing Opportunities

The SpaceX transaction reflects a broader trend across the technology industry.

Building AI infrastructure requires enormous capital investment. Companies need to secure GPUs, networking equipment, data-centre facilities, electricity and cooling systems before they can generate revenue from computing services.

Traditional technology companies have often financed infrastructure through cash flows, corporate borrowing or equity investment.

However, the rapid expansion of AI has created financing requirements that are increasingly difficult to meet through conventional methods alone.

Investment firms such as Apollo and BlackRock are becoming important participants in this market by providing capital for infrastructure projects and equipment purchases.

Other major technology companies are also exploring large financing arrangements to fund AI hardware.

Broadcom, for example, has been involved in discussions around financing custom AI chips being developed for OpenAI. Oracle has also explored financing structures for large-scale computing infrastructure.

These transactions indicate that the AI infrastructure market is creating opportunities for banks, private credit firms, asset managers and institutional investors.

Investors Are Becoming More Cautious About AI Debt

Despite strong demand for AI computing, financing large infrastructure projects carries substantial risks.

Investors are increasingly examining whether technology companies can generate enough revenue from AI services to justify the enormous cost of building computing capacity.

The industry faces several uncertainties:

• Hardware depreciation: AI chips can lose economic value as newer generations become available.
• Demand uncertainty: Companies may build more computing capacity than customers ultimately require.
• Electricity costs: Large data centres require significant and reliable power supplies.
• Technology changes: Improvements in chip efficiency could affect the economics of existing infrastructure.
• Revenue generation: Companies must convert expensive computing resources into sustainable cash flows.

These concerns are particularly important for financing arrangements that extend over several years.

The SpaceX lease structure also requires investors to evaluate the company’s ability to meet its payment obligations throughout the contract period.

The deal’s scale means that institutional investors will need to assess both SpaceX’s creditworthiness and the long-term value of the underlying equipment.

What the Deal Means for SpaceX’s AI Ambitions

SpaceX’s growing investment in computing infrastructure reflects Elon Musk’s broader ambition to build a major AI ecosystem.

The company is developing infrastructure to support Grok, enterprise AI products and cloud computing services.

Access to large amounts of advanced GPU capacity could help SpaceX serve more customers and compete with established cloud providers.

It could also support the company’s longer-term ambitions in artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

However, acquiring hardware is only one part of building a successful AI business. SpaceX will also need sufficient electricity, data-centre capacity, networking infrastructure and paying customers to generate returns on its investment.

The financing provides a way to secure the hardware, but commercial success will depend on how effectively the company deploys and monetises that capacity.

The Bigger Picture

The $40 billion SpaceX financing deal highlights how the AI boom is changing the relationship between technology companies and financial markets.

AI infrastructure is no longer funded only through traditional corporate spending. Banks, private equity firms, asset managers and institutional investors are increasingly participating in arrangements that finance the hardware required to run advanced AI systems.

The sale-and-leaseback structure also demonstrates how companies are experimenting with ways to obtain expensive computing equipment while managing reported corporate debt.

For investors, the opportunity comes with a major question: whether the revenue generated by AI services will be sufficient to support the enormous financing commitments being made today.

Looking Ahead

The immediate focus will be on the formal syndication process and the participation of institutional investors. The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2026, subject to specified conditions, while the Nvidia equipment is expected to arrive in the first half of 2027. Investors will also examine the final financing terms and the risks associated with the multi-year lease arrangement.

For SpaceX, the deal could provide access to one of the largest pools of AI computing hardware assembled for a single company’s infrastructure expansion. Its long-term success, however, will depend on whether the company can turn that computing capacity into profitable AI and cloud services. The transaction also offers an indication of how far financial markets are willing to go to fund the next generation of artificial intelligence infrastructure.