Episode summary
SpaceX in Talks to Borrow $40 Billion to Buy Nvidia Chips | Bloomberg Intelligence
Bloomberg Intelligence
· · 18 min · Hosts: Scarlet Fu, Hema Parmar, Paul Sweeney · Guests: Ed Ludlow, Michael Halen, Geetha Ranganathan
Summary
SpaceX is reported to be in early talks to borrow or raise $40 billion, with $10 billion in loans and $30 billion in investment-grade credit, to fund purchases of Nvidia chips and data-center buildouts. A guest said the market is uneasy, pointing to CDS moves, but also argued that lenders are still willing to finance the rapid deployment of GPUs and that other hyperscalers have already been borrowing heavily for similar spending.
Apple is moving deeper into the smart-home market through a partnership with LG rather than branding the devices itself. The guest said the lineup could include a smart doorbell, thermostat, deadbolt lock, indoor and outdoor security cameras, and a floodlight camera, and viewed the move as a way for Apple to leverage LG’s existing expertise while pushing the home hardware ecosystem beyond the iPhone.
On restaurants, a guest said McDonald’s may need to negotiate down its proposed $1.2 million-plus restaurant overhaul because franchisees are already squeezed by commodity costs and weak traffic. Texas Roadhouse was also discussed after a social-media hoax and broader sector pressure helped drive a sharp selloff, but the guest cautioned that restaurant stocks are also being hit by higher input costs and weaker sales generally. Disney’s plan to stream the 2027 Super Bowl on Disney Plus was framed as part of a broader strategy to use sports as a subscription and advertising engine, especially as the company raises prices and leans on its bundle.
Key takeaways
- SpaceX’s reported $40 billion financing plan includes $10 billion of loans and $30 billion of investment-grade credit, according to the guest.
- The guest said SpaceX’s debt talk is early stage, but the market is already reacting nervously to the scale of AI-related hardware spending.
- Apple’s LG partnership could bring smart locks, doorbells, thermostats, and security cameras into the Apple ecosystem without Apple branding them.
- McDonald’s franchisees are being asked to fund an overhaul the guest said could cost at least $1.2 million per location, a level likely to force negotiation.
- The guest said Texas Roadhouse’s selloff was not just about the hoax headline, because the whole restaurant group is facing higher commodity and labor costs.
- Disney’s Super Bowl streaming strategy is part of a push to monetize sports through subscriptions and ads, with the guest citing a $12 million Super Bowl spot price.
Notable quotes
“they're in talks and I think they're pretty early stage talks right to raise or borrow $40 billion”
“it's basically a JV, which is slightly more rare in in um Apple's context”
“McDonald's is asking for 1.2 2 million which we think is is a huge ask for franchises”
“they are going to do a lot of cross promotion. They're going to I'm sure you know, you get to see a lot of Disney Plus content”
How the episode opens
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Listen on demand wherever you get your podcasts or watch us live on YouTube. Let's bring in our go-to guy for all things tech, Ed Ledllo, Bloomberg Tech host, joining us from San Francisco. So, as John Tucker was pointing out earlier, um Ed, SpaceX raised a whole lot of money with its IPO and it's tapping the debt market yet again because it tapped the debt market right after its IPO.
Now, it's doing so again. Um and this is all towards those data centers.
Yeah. I mean even you know months before the IPO happened there was a lot of discussion you know in the existing investor base and then the bankers like this is going to be the biggest IPO of all time and they will still go to the capital market straight after and so in this case what we're reporting is they're in talks and I think they're pretty early stage talks right to raise or borrow $40 billion $10 billion is loans and then the balance $30 billion you know in investment grade credit. Um, and you know, to to the market that is a little worrying.
There are warning signs. I think you guys may have seen the CDS chart that came out this morning after the news hit. Um, but the market's like really happy to support that because there are like bigger picture discussions about the useful economic life of a GPU and the best way to finance it to get it into a data center quickly.
What about um this being a blueprint, Ed, like maybe a troubling blueprint for other big tech companies?
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- spacex fundraising
- ai chip demand
- smart home devices
- restaurant sector updates
- media streaming sports
Companies and tickers mentioned
- NVDA
- APO
- AAPL
- MCD
- TXRH
- DIS
- EVR
- SNEX
- SpaceX
- Nvidia
- Pacific Investment Management Company
- Apollo Global Management
- Apple
- LG Electronics
- McDonald's
- Texas Roadhouse
- Walt Disney
- Evercore ISI
- StoneX
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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