SpaceX’s $40 Billion Nvidia Financing Faces Higher Borrowing Costs

SpaceX is planning a $40 billion financing through a special-purpose entity to fund Nvidia chip purchases, with market turbulence making negotiations over borrowing costs more difficult.

The proposed package would use three 144A bond tranches. The junior tranche would total $25 billion to $30 billion, while the other two would be $10 billion and up to $5 billion. SpaceX wants to keep the related liabilities off its balance sheet to protect its investment-grade credit rating. Credit-market turbulence has pushed borrowing costs higher across the industry, adding difficulty to pricing discussions.

An earlier financing plan included about $10 billion in bank loans and $30 billion in investment-grade debt.

In 2025, SpaceX sought up to $20 billion in off-balance-sheet debt for xAI, Elon Musk’s AI company. Auditors determined that arrangement did not qualify for the intended accounting treatment, and about $13 billion of debt was recorded on SpaceX’s balance sheet.

SpaceX reported strong third-quarter results, and its AI business turned profitable for the first time. It also increased revenue by selling computing capacity from its Memphis data center to outside AI labs and large cloud providers. SpaceX Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen has expressed confidence in the company’s ability to keep raising funds prudently while maintaining its investment-grade rating.