---
title: "Goldman and Apollo are selling $40 billion of SpaceX debt, testing Musk's vow never to lend to an AI cloud"
description: "Goldman Sachs and Apollo are selling roughly $40 billion of debt that buys Nvidia chips for SpaceX's AI data centers. The yield it fetches decides whether lenders side with Musk's rule against AI-cloud lending or with the analysts who say SpaceX has become an AI cloud."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Data Center"
published: 2026-11-08T18:16:28.993Z
modified: 2026-11-08T18:16:28.993Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/goldman-and-apollo-are-selling-40-billion-of-spacex-debt-testing-musk-s-vow-never-to-lend-to-an-ai-cloud
language: en
keywords: "SpaceX, Elon Musk, AI Clouds, Debt, Goldman Sachs, Apollo"
---

# Goldman and Apollo are selling $40 billion of SpaceX debt, testing Musk's vow never to lend to an AI cloud

> Goldman Sachs and Apollo are selling roughly $40 billion of debt that buys Nvidia chips for SpaceX's AI data centers. The yield it fetches decides whether lenders side with Musk's rule against AI-cloud lending or with the analysts who say SpaceX has become an AI cloud.

[Elon Musk](https://theinference.org/markets/people/elon-musk)'s lending rule is blunt: "[I would never lend money to somebody who only makes money by serving AI from a data center](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/musk-never-lend-money-pure-021812060.html)" [1]. [Goldman Sachs](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/goldman-sachs) and [Apollo Global Management](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/apollo-global-management) are now selling roughly $40 billion of [SpaceX](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/spacex) (SPCX) debt that buys [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia) chips for exactly that business, and the yield buyers accept will decide whether they follow the rule or the analysts who say SpaceX has become an AI cloud [1] [2].

The sale is older news on this desk: [we covered its start against Texas's push for a SpaceX pause](https://theinference.org/article/texas-governor-elect-gina-hinojosa-wants-a-spacex-pause-as-goldman-syndicates-40-billion-of-chip-debt) on November 6, and [Musk ruling SpaceX out of buying AI-cloud firms](https://theinference.org/article/musk-rules-spacex-out-of-buying-ai-cloud-firms-as-coreweave-s-debt-hits-51-6-billion) in October [1]. New since is the founder's own lending rule, said on November 4 and surfaced on November 7 [1], and a research call that turns it against him.

## The paperwork lends to all of SpaceX

The structure answers the objection before anyone raises it. A vehicle managed by Apollo-backed Atlas SP buys the Nvidia Rubin chips and issues the debt, off SpaceX's balance sheet, and SpaceX owes five years of rent that, [in the deal documents' words, is due "regardless of equipment condition, casualty or force majeure"](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/goldman-apollo-talks-sell-spacex-211021473.html) [2].

Lenders are not underwriting the data centers; the documents promise "a clean look-through to SpaceX credit" [2]. [Musk's own pitch on X](https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/elon-musk-says-spacex-closed-40-billion-debt-deal-for-ai-chips-as-firm-investment-grade-has-starlink-launch-revenue/ar-AA2g3bR2) is the same argument: SpaceX is investment grade, with Starlink and launch revenue to pay for chips even if compute does not sell [3].

## The revenue is what he says he would never fund

The numbers underneath tell the other story. SpaceX's AI segment brought in $7.6 billion last quarter, nearly triple the one before, more than half the company [1]. [Anthropic](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/anthropic) alone was 34.5 percent of that quarter's revenue, and [either side can exit the contract on 90 days' notice](https://theinference.org/article/anthropic-can-walk-from-84-5-billion-of-spacex-compute-on-90-days-notice-the-stock-is-at-103-times-sales) [1].

*Chart: **Revenue more than doubled in a year as AI compute scaled** Line chart of SpaceX quarterly revenue rising from $4.1 billion in Q1 2025 to $14.6 billion in Q3 2026, with Q4 2025 not on file.*

*Total revenue by calendar quarter, billions of dollars, from SpaceX's quarterly SEC filings; Q4 2025 is not on file. The AI segment was $7.6 billion of the $14.6 billion booked in Q3 2026. [9]*

Musk himself has said SpaceX rents its compute "[at effectively the spot market rate](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/05/wall-street-is-being-asked-to-take-part-of-spacexs-40-billion-ai-bet/)," while the rent on the chips is fixed [4]. Fixed obligations against floating revenue is the shape of a neocloud, a firm like [CoreWeave](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/coreweave) that borrows to buy GPUs and rents the computing out [8]. Dylan Patel of the semiconductor research firm [SemiAnalysis](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/semianalysis) says Musk is turning SpaceX into one [1]. The balance sheet is already traveling that road.

*Chart: **One lease would double SpaceX's debt again** Bar chart of SpaceX debt and finance leases rising from $13.8 billion in Q4 2024 to $38.8 billion in Q3 2026, plus an estimate bar at $78.8 billion if the $40 billion chip lease must be consolidated.*

*Debt and finance leases, billions of dollars, from SpaceX's quarterly SEC filings; the last bar adds the roughly $40 billion chip lease if SpaceX must consolidate it, as a failed xAI lease once was. [1][3][5]*

## The yield decides which story wins

Investor Dave Blundin frames the sale as a spread: lend to the other AI clouds at 15 percent, or to SpaceX at about 8 [1]. [The bonds' fixed rate is set only at pricing](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/money/goldman-sachs-and-apollo-changes-position-on-spacex/ar-AA2gUhy0) [6], and the calendar is hostile: CoreWeave (CRWV) reports on November 10, [Nebius](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nebius) (NBIS) and Cerebras (CBRS) on November 12, three prints from a complex that just [lost about half its market value in a month](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/ai-cloud-crash-puts-coreweave-163800623.html) [7] [8].

The build deserves the money: chief financial officer Bret Johnsen says SpaceX is seeing "less than one year payback periods" on its AI infrastructure [6]. The paper should sell too, because five years of absolute rent behind Starlink's cash flow is a claim Musk himself would respect.

## Off the books is not out of the risk

The structure cannot remove the AI-cloud risk, only relocate it. More than half of [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley)'s $300 price target rests on the enterprise AI business [1], and off-balance-sheet treatment is a hope rather than a guarantee: SpaceX already had to consolidate about $13 billion from a failed [xAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/xai) chip sale-leaseback [3].

Bond buyers carry the neocloud risk only if they price it wrong. Shareholders carry it at any price.

## Takeaway

The yield on $40 billion of SpaceX chip debt decides whether lenders see investment-grade SpaceX or the neocloud Musk vowed never to fund.

## Sources

1. [Yahoo Finance (TIKR), Rexielyn Diaz, "Musk 'Would Never Lend Money' to Pure AI Clouds. Goldman Is Selling SpaceX's $40 Billion GPU Debt", 7 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/musk-never-lend-money-pure-021812060.html)
2. [Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, Carmen Arroyo, "Goldman, Apollo in Talks to Sell SpaceX's $40 Billion AI Deal", 4 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/goldman-apollo-talks-sell-spacex-211021473.html)
3. [Live Mint via MSN, Jocelyn Fernandes, "Elon Musk says SpaceX closed $40 billion debt deal for AI chips as firm investment grade, has Starlink, launch revenue", 25 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/elon-musk-says-spacex-closed-40-billion-debt-deal-for-ai-chips-as-firm-investment-grade-has-starlink-launch-revenue/ar-AA2g3bR2)
4. [24/7 Wall St, Omor Ibne Ehsan, "Wall Street Is Being Asked to Take Part of SpaceX's $40 Billion AI Bet", 5 November 2026](https://247wallst.com/investing/2026/11/05/wall-street-is-being-asked-to-take-part-of-spacexs-40-billion-ai-bet/)
5. [SpaceX, quarterly debt figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412)
6. [TheStreet via MSN, Hillary Remy and Aparajita Chatterjee, "Goldman Sachs and Apollo changes position on SpaceX", 6 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/money/goldman-sachs-and-apollo-changes-position-on-spacex/ar-AA2gUhy0)
7. [Yahoo Finance, Ethan Wolff-Mann, "2 big AI narratives wrestle with each other: What to watch this week", 8 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/article/2-big-ai-narratives-wrestle-with-each-other-what-to-watch-this-week-170000318.html)
8. [24/7 Wall St via Yahoo Finance, Trey Thoelcke, "AI Cloud Crash Puts CoreWeave and Nebius on Sale. Their Next Reports Decide What Happens Next", 6 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/ai-cloud-crash-puts-coreweave-163800623.html)
9. [SpaceX, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 8 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001181412)


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Goldman and Apollo are selling $40 billion of SpaceX debt, testing Musk's vow never to lend to an AI cloud — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/goldman-and-apollo-are-selling-40-billion-of-spacex-debt-testing-musk-s-vow-never-to-lend-to-an-ai-cloud