Goldman Sachs and Apollo Take $40B SpaceX AI Chip Lease Deal to Investors

Goldman Sachs and Apollo Global Management have started knocking on doors. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the pair is pitching a multi-tranche financing package worth roughly $40 billion, tied to AI chips headed for SpaceX. The selling point: an Apollo-managed entity buys the GPUs and server gear, then leases the hardware to SpaceX.

Early outreach isn't small. According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, some investors are being asked to write checks of up to $500 million — and that's before formal syndication kicks off. Anchors first, wider pool later.

The structure is doing the heavy lifting. Because an Apollo vehicle holds the hardware and SpaceX simply pays rent, roughly $40 billion in equipment obligations stay off SpaceX's balance sheet. Total principal payments under the leases land near $40 billion, and SpaceX expects leasing to begin in the first half of 2027 once the kit is delivered.

SpaceX first disclosed the arrangement on October 26, 2026, through regulatory filings and follow-up statements, describing it as the largest GPU financing commitment on record. The compute is meant to expand its terrestrial AI capacity, feeding Grok models and related cloud services. The scale tracks with SpaceX's own guidance of $35-40 billion in capital expenditures for the fourth quarter of 2026 alone.

Elon Musk jumped into the credit conversation on X in November 2026, weighing in on the question of investment-grade status — a detail that matters because ratings decide which institutions can legally hold the paper. The pitch also diversifies how SpaceX raises money, leaning on leases instead of plain corporate bonds.

Timing is thorny. AI-linked debt markets have been volatile, with investors demanding fatter returns as doubts grow over whether the colossal compute spend ever pays off. A recent Democratic electoral victory has stirred fresh political questions for the sector. For Apollo, it slots into a private credit playbook: own hard assets, collect lease income from a marquee tenant. The catch is depreciation — GPUs serve as collateral, but their worth hinges on how fast newer chips turn them into scrap. And with cash flows not starting until 2027, any hardware delay pushes payday back.