---
title: "Bondholders and Macquarie eat first at Applied Digital's $36.2 billion table"
description: "A filings-based analysis published this week maps where Applied Digital's rent goes: $6.09 billion of campus notes and Macquarie's 12.75% preferred units rank ahead of a $5.5 billion equity holding about $41 million of reachable cash. The intended tenant of its newest site is again a company it controls."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Data Center"
published: 2026-10-23T18:05:29.873Z
modified: 2026-10-23T18:05:29.873Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/bondholders-and-macquarie-eat-first-at-applied-digital-s-36-2-billion-table
language: en
keywords: "Applied Digital, Data Centers, Debt Financing, Macquarie, CoreWeave"
---

# Bondholders and Macquarie eat first at Applied Digital's $36.2 billion table

> A filings-based analysis published this week maps where Applied Digital's rent goes: $6.09 billion of campus notes and Macquarie's 12.75% preferred units rank ahead of a $5.5 billion equity holding about $41 million of reachable cash. The intended tenant of its newest site is again a company it controls.

[Applied Digital](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/applied-digital), the Dallas-based builder of AI data-center campuses, has signed about $36.2 billion of leases running roughly 15 years, and an equity worth about $5.5 billion at the October 16 close prices that book as its own [1]. [A capital-structure map published this week](https://www.rackline.news/story/1fpq1h0) by the credit outlet Rackline follows the rent down the waterfall instead, and the shareholder is third in a queue of three [1].

## Notes first, Macquarie second, equity last

Each campus pays its own noteholders first: $6.09 billion of secured notes in three issues, $2.35 billion at 9.25%, $2.15 billion at 6.75% and $1.59 billion at 7.00% [1]. Macquarie Asset Management comes next, holding $1.8 billion of preferred units that pay 12.75%, can be paid in extra units rather than cash until 2035, and are guaranteed at least 1.8 times the money invested on a liquidation [1]. The parent guarantees only that the buildings get finished [1].

At August 31, $2,909 million of the group's $2,950 million of unrestricted cash sat inside TopCo 2, the bankruptcy-remote holding company above the campuses, leaving about $41 million where the parent could spend it, [the October 7 quarterly report](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=APLD&type=10-Q&dateb=&owner=include&count=10) shows [1][2]. Rackline's arithmetic has fiscal 2028 rent of $1.58 billion leaving about $624 million for shareholders after costs, note service, overhead and parent debt [1]. Shareholders do not own the rent; they own the residue.

*Chart: **Campus notes take $687 million of fiscal 2028 rent; shareholders keep $624 million** Stacked bar splitting Applied Digital's fiscal 2028 filed rent between operating costs, campus note service, overhead, parent debt and the amount left for shareholders*

*Filed minimum rent of $1,579.5 million for fiscal 2028, split per Rackline's estimates from the 10-K and 10-Q. Macquarie's $247.9 million preferred dividend accrues in units, not cash, and ranks ahead of the parent. Source: Rackline, October 2026. [1]*

## A power cap and a wall of debt

At Ellendale, the North Dakota flagship, [CoreWeave](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coreweave) has leased 400MW against a utility contract capped at 350MW that expires on August 31, 2030 [1]. Then $4.26 billion of the $6.72 billion of debt principal, about 63%, falls due in the fiscal year to May 2031, and the annual report says plainly: "It is likely that we will need to refinance at least a portion of our outstanding debt" [1].

CoreWeave's bonds slid in mid-October as investors questioned the debt behind the AI buildout, and Applied traded alongside; even after an 8.5% bounce to $21 on October 21 it sits 59% below its 52-week high [3].

*Chart: **Fiscal 2031 alone owes $4.26 billion, 63% of Applied Digital's debt** Bar chart of Applied Digital debt principal by fiscal year, with fiscal 2031 towering at $4.26 billion*

*Debt principal including convertible notes, by fiscal year to May 31, per the 10-Q schedule filed October 7, 2026; FY2027 is the nine months to May 2027 and Macquarie's preferred units are excluded. Source: Rackline. [1]*

## The credit is the sound part

The bear case has an honest opponent. Campus rent covers note service about twice over in fiscal 2028, and chief executive [Wes Cummins](https://theinference.org/markets/people/wes-cummins) argues that every new power restriction elsewhere makes what Applied owns harder to replicate [1]. Nor is the intended Texas tenant hollow: ChronoScale booked $71.6 million of revenue in the year to May and has a 50MW [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft) buildout due in early 2027 [4].

## December decides what is left

The Texas venture with Soluna Holdings went definitive on October 21: Applied funds the development and holds 51%, Soluna contributes the land and power assets beside its 150MW wind farm, and closing is targeted by December 31 pending a county tax abatement and final agreements [5][6]. The tenant lined up is ChronoScale, the compute platform Applied owns about 96% of, on [a non-binding letter of intent](https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2026/10/21/10467098.htm), [a structure The Inference reported on October 22](https://theinference.org/article/applied-digital-s-newest-tenant-is-itself-the-soluna-deal-as-financing-template) [5][7].

The abatement vote, a binding lease and the January results will show whether the residue ever reaches the back of the queue.

## Takeaway

A capital-structure map of Applied Digital's $36.2 billion of leases shows campus noteholders and Macquarie's 12.75% preferred units ranking ahead of shareholders, who own only the residue: about $41 million of reachable cash and what is left of rent after note service.

## Sources

1. [Rackline, "Applied Digital pays its bondholders first. Its shareholders wait behind Macquarie", 18 October 2026](https://www.rackline.news/story/1fpq1h0)
2. [SEC EDGAR, Applied Digital Corp. Form 10-Q filings index (quarterly report to 31 August 2026, filed 7 October 2026)](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=APLD&type=10-Q&dateb=&owner=include&count=10)
3. [Yahoo Finance (TIKR), "Applied Digital Jumps 8.5% After Soluna Joint Venture for a 50 MW Wind-Powered AI Data Center", 22 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/applied-digital-jumps-8-5-092938496.html)
4. [Crypto Briefing, "ChronoScale lands new AI infrastructure deals, sets $1 billion revenue target for Q3 2027", 1 October 2026](https://cryptobriefing.com/chronoscale-ai-infrastructure-deals-1-billion/)
5. [Soluna Holdings press release via PRNewswire/TMCnet, "Soluna Agrees to Form Strategic Partnership with Applied Digital to Develop Wind-Powered AI Data Center in Texas", 21 October 2026](https://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2026/10/21/10467098.htm)
6. [Datacenter Intelligence, "Soluna, Applied Digital plan 50MW AI data centre in Texas, US", 21 October 2026](https://www.datacenter-intelligence.com/news/soluna-applied-digital-50mw-ai-data-centre/)
7. [The Inference, "Applied Digital's Newest Tenant Is Itself: The Soluna Deal as Financing Template", 22 October 2026](https://theinference.org/article/applied-digital-s-newest-tenant-is-itself-the-soluna-deal-as-financing-template)


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Bondholders and Macquarie eat first at Applied Digital's $36.2 billion table — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/bondholders-and-macquarie-eat-first-at-applied-digital-s-36-2-billion-table