Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. are seeking investors to buy portions of a $40 billion financing deal for SpaceX's artificial intelligence chips. The record off-balance-sheet structure utilizes an Apollo-backed special purpose vehicle to purchase $47.3 billion in Nvidia Corp. Rubin GPUs and lease them to SpaceX over five years. SpaceX's absolute rent payment obligations exclude force majeure relief, protecting investors despite market volatility following a Democratic midterm sweep.
SpaceX chip financing syndication
- ▪Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. are asking some investors to purchase slices of up to $500 million before the official syndication process starts for SpaceX's $40 billion AI chip financing deal
- ▪Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. have begun approaching Wall Street investors to sell portions of a roughly $40 billion Nvidia Rubin AI chip financing deal for SpaceX
- ▪SpaceX's $40 billion financing package announced in October includes an $8.3 billion senior-secured loan led by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and several bond tranches largely backed by Apollo Global Management Inc., with participation from Pacific Investment Management Co.
AI investment market retreat
- ▪SpaceX announced its $40 billion chip financing in October 2026 before pricing was finalized, exposing lenders to market risk during a period of market volatility
- ▪Investors have retreated from the artificial intelligence trade over concerns about whether revenues justify massive capital expenditures, turning lenders against SpaceX competitors like CoreWeave Inc.
Democratic election tech impact
- ▪Midterm election victories by Democrats in the U.S. Congress, alongside Texas voters flipping the state blue after freezing new data center approvals, heightened market pressure and lowered shares of SpaceX and Tesla Inc.
- ▪SpaceX maintains data centers in Memphis, Tennessee, and is actively developing additional data center sites in Mississippi
Absolute rent payment obligation
- ▪SpaceX's five-year lease agreement provides no residual value guarantee for equipment, setting it apart from Oracle Corp. which previously cited force majeure clauses to delay data center obligations
- ▪SpaceX's five-year lease agreement for Nvidia Rubin GPUs requires absolute rent payments that cannot be paused using force majeure clauses, regardless of equipment condition, casualty, or operational disruption
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