---
title: "Nvidia's interim CEO balked at a $250 billion OpenAI backstop, moving the bill onto Oracle's $70 billion"
description: "The refusal moves the risk from Nvidia's balance sheet onto Oracle's own $70 billion of capital and the holders of its 7%-plus notes, the money building data centers behind a backlog that S&P puts half with OpenAI. Nvidia reports on November 17; Oracle's quarter lands in mid-December."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Data Center"
published: 2026-11-14T16:34:16.966Z
modified: 2026-11-14T16:34:16.966Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nvidia-s-interim-ceo-balked-at-a-250-billion-openai-backstop-moving-the-bill-onto-oracle-s-70-billion
language: en
keywords: "Nvidia, Oracle, OpenAI, Data Centers, AI Capex, Credit"
---

# Nvidia's interim CEO balked at a $250 billion OpenAI backstop, moving the bill onto Oracle's $70 billion

> The refusal moves the risk from Nvidia's balance sheet onto Oracle's own $70 billion of capital and the holders of its 7%-plus notes, the money building data centers behind a backlog that S&P puts half with OpenAI. Nvidia reports on November 17; Oracle's quarter lands in mid-December.

What changed this week is who stands behind [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai)'s bills. [Colette Kress](https://theinference.org/markets/people/colette-kress), [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia)'s finance chief until November 12 and its interim chief executive from that day, [pushed back on the proposed $250 billion credit backstop](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-interim-ceo-pushed-back-114212136.html) for OpenAI championed by [Jensen Huang](https://theinference.org/markets/people/jensen-huang), who co-founded Nvidia and ran it for three decades before stepping down [1][2]. The plan to support OpenAI's Ohio data centers was ultimately pared to $120 billion [2]. Without it, OpenAI's payments rest on its own fundraising, and the builder furthest ahead of those payments is [Oracle](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/oracle) [1].

## Oracle builds first, mostly with its own money

Oracle collects nothing when a contract is signed; it builds the capacity before it gets paid [1]. [Its capital plan for this fiscal year runs between $90 billion and $95 billion](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/oracles-125-billion-debt-raises-165621353.html) [3]. About $70 billion of that is Oracle's own capital, chief financial officer [Hilary Maxson](https://theinference.org/markets/people/hilary-maxson) said on [the June call](https://www.readtheprofile.com/p/who-is-larry-ellison-oracles-founder); the rest is to be repaid by customers, on no timeline she gave [4]. Capital spending first passed quarterly revenue in the February quarter, slipped back below in May, and finished August $9.2 billion above it [6][3].

## The backlog is $664 billion, about half of it OpenAI

What the spending chases is $664 billion of contracted but undelivered revenue, about half of it attributed to OpenAI by S&P [5]. Only 13% of that book becomes revenue within a year [5]. Oracle's counter is real: it closed more than $30 billion of AI contracts last quarter without new Oracle capital [1], and $75 billion of the book was already on customer-prepaid or customer-supplied terms as of May [5].

*Chart: **Oracle's capex ended the August quarter $9.2 billion above its revenue** Line chart comparing Oracle's quarterly capital expenditure with quarterly revenue from late 2023 through the August 2026 quarter: capex climbs from about $1 billion to $28.5 billion, first passes revenue in the February 2026 quarter, dips below in May, and finishes August $9.2 billion above revenue of $19.3 billion.*

*Quarterly capital expenditure and revenue, US$ billions, from Oracle's SEC filings. Calendar quarters shown; Oracle's fiscal year ends May 31, so the August 2026 quarter is its fiscal Q1 2027. [6][3]*

## OpenAI's fundraising still falls short of its promises to lenders

OpenAI lost about $13.5 billion in the September quarter, including stock compensation [5]. Its latest round has raised $15 billion of the $30 billion it set out to raise [5]. Revenue is growing fast, at a run rate near $50 billion a year at the end of September [5]. That is still short of the $70 billion net run rate OpenAI promised lenders by December 31, which [we reported Oracle and CoreWeave lend against](https://theinference.org/article/openai-promises-a-70-billion-net-revenue-run-rate-by-december-31-oracle-and-coreweave-lend-against-it) in October [5].

## Oracle fills the gap with 7% notes on a BBB- rating

Nvidia [still guarantees up to $105 billion of OpenAI's Ohio leases](https://theinference.org/article/nvidia-guarantees-up-to-105-billion-of-openai-s-ohio-campus-coreweave-s-bonds-imply-near-63-default-odds), but its $500 billion financing partnership with six asset managers has produced no deals after months [1]. So Oracle fills the gap with its own credit: [$10 billion of notes sold this month](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/oracle-backlog-half-openai-could-091646123.html), at coupons of 7% to 8.65% [5], on a rating S&P keeps at BBB-, one step above junk [5]. [Wells Fargo](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/wells-fargo), which underwrites Oracle's paper, says the investment-grade market is near maximum capacity and punishes deals above $25 billion [7].

*Chart: **Oracle's capex has outrun operating cash flow in seven of the last eight quarters** Line chart of Oracle's quarterly capital expenditure and operating cash flow from the February 2024 quarter through the August 2026 quarter: capital spending rises from $1.7 billion to $28.5 billion and is higher than operating cash flow in seven of the last eight quarters, ending $5.4 billion above it.*

*Quarterly capital expenditure and operating cash flow, US$ billions, from Oracle's SEC filings, February 2024 through August 2026, by calendar quarter. The November 2023 quarter is left out because operating cash flow breaks in the series there. [10]*

## The counterparty is what changed this week

We reported on November 11 that [Oracle had burned a $20 billion funding cap meant to last to 2030 in five days](https://theinference.org/article/oracle-caps-ai-fundraising-at-20-billion-and-promises-30-billion-of-free-cash-flow-in-fiscal-2029), then lost [Tencent](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tencent)'s chip deal and [Microsoft](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/microsoft)'s rental business in the same week [9]. What is new since is the counterparty: the one balance sheet big enough to stand behind OpenAI is stepping back [1]. If OpenAI raises less, Oracle has no receivable to call back; it keeps a data center and $169 billion of debt and leases [5]. Oracle [fell 3.85% on November 13](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/market-movers/262304841-market-movers-orcl-20261113) and again the next day [8][1].

## November 17 and mid-December settle it

Nvidia reports on November 17, and what Kress says about the asset-manager partnership and the Ohio guarantee will show how far the pullback goes [1]. Oracle's quarter, due in mid-December, settles three things: how much the backlog grew from customers other than OpenAI, how large the prepaid and customer-supplied share has become, and whether spending is tracking the plan [5][3].

Protection on Oracle's paper and shorts in the stock into those two dates are bets that the answers land weak. If the backlog grows from customers who bring their own capital, Oracle's $70 billion looks safer; if it grows only from OpenAI, the bondholders carry it.

## Takeaway

Kress's refusal moves OpenAI's construction bill from Nvidia's balance sheet to Oracle's: $70 billion of its own capital, $10 billion of 7% notes this month, and a backlog S&P puts half with OpenAI.

## Sources

1. [Yahoo Finance, "Nvidia's Interim CEO Pushed Back on a '$250 Billion Credit Backstop' for OpenAI. Oracle Has the Most at Stake," 14 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/nvidia-interim-ceo-pushed-back-114212136.html)
2. [Reuters (via MSN), "Colette Kress, the CFO who challenged Huang's bets, is Nvidia's interim CEO," 12 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/colette-kress-the-cfo-who-challenged-huang-s-bets-is-nvidia-s-interim-ceo/ar-AA2hnugP)
3. [Yahoo Finance (GuruFocus), "Oracle's $125 billion debt raises a major AI warning," 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/oracles-125-billion-debt-raises-165621353.html)
4. [The Profile, "Who Is Larry Ellison? Oracle's Founder and the $95 Billion AI Bet," 11 November 2026](https://www.readtheprofile.com/p/who-is-larry-ellison-oracles-founder)
5. [Yahoo Finance, "Oracle's Backlog Is About Half OpenAI, Which Could Only 'Scrape Together $11bn'," 13 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/oracle-backlog-half-openai-could-091646123.html)
6. [Oracle Corporation, quarterly capital expenditure and revenue from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001341439)
7. [Bloomberg, "AI 'Supply Shock' Pushes Bond Market to Limit, Says Wells Fargo," 12 November 2026](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-11-12/ai-supply-shock-pushes-bond-market-to-limit-says-wells-fargo)
8. [TradingKey, "Oracle Corp Stock (ORCL) Moved Down by 3.85% on Nov 13: A Full Analysis," 13 November 2026](https://www.tradingkey.com/news/market-movers/262304841-market-movers-orcl-20261113)
9. [Fast Company, "Microsoft is winding down its Oracle deal. It could be a sign of what's to come," November 2026](https://www.fastcompany.com/91638597/microsoft-is-winding-down-its-oracle-deal-it-could-be-a-sign-of-whats-to-come)
10. [Oracle, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 14 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001341439)


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Nvidia's interim CEO balked at a $250 billion OpenAI backstop, moving the bill onto Oracle's $70 billion — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/nvidia-s-interim-ceo-balked-at-a-250-billion-openai-backstop-moving-the-bill-onto-oracle-s-70-billion