Key Takeaways
- • SpaceX secured a $40 billion master finance lease to purchase Nvidia GPUs supporting xAI and related data center projects, per an Oct. 26 8-K filing cited by Morningstar.
- • Apollo and Goldman Sachs led the committed financing, with Goldman Sachs acting as structuring agent; BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and KKR affiliates provided financing commitments.
- • SpaceX describes the transaction as the largest committed GPU financing to date, exceeding a $36 billion structured notes deal for Anthropic led by Apollo and Blackstone this summer.
- • Rent is set at 5% of the financed cost of each tranche plus a fixed annual rate on the outstanding balance, with lease schedules of roughly 5.00-5.25 years.
- • The deal is expected to close before year-end 2026, with leasing commencing in the first half of 2027.
Summary
Space exploration and AI company SpaceX has struck a $40 billion master finance lease to purchase Nvidia GPUs, according to Morningstar, which republished a PitchBook report. The GPUs will support the development of SpaceX's subsidiary xAI, including the Grok LLM product, and the company's terrestrial compute buildout. SpaceX has also announced plans to build additional data centers in orbit.
Apollo and Goldman Sachs led the committed financing, with Goldman Sachs serving as structuring agent. Affiliates of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and KKR provided financing commitments. Under the arrangement, Apollo will acquire Nvidia's "Vera Rubin" GPUs and related equipment and lease them to SpaceX. Asset purchases will be made in tranches, with lease schedules of roughly 5.00-5.25 years.
According to an Oct. 26 8-K filing, SpaceX will pay rent equal to 5% of the financed cost of each tranche, plus a fixed annual rate on the outstanding balance. SpaceX characterized the transaction as the largest-ever committed GPU financing, exceeding a $36 billion structured notes deal finalized this summer to purchase and lease GPUs to Anthropic. That earlier transaction, backstopped by Broadcom, was led by Apollo and Blackstone.
The deal is expected to close prior to year-end, with leasing beginning in the first half of 2027. Private credit lenders have been increasingly focused on financing the data center buildout, which some investors view as a once-in-a-career opportunity, according to the source reporting.
Apollo and Goldman Sachs led the committed financing, with Goldman Sachs serving as structuring agent. Affiliates of BlackRock, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and KKR provided financing commitments. Under the arrangement, Apollo will acquire Nvidia's "Vera Rubin" GPUs and related equipment and lease them to SpaceX. Asset purchases will be made in tranches, with lease schedules of roughly 5.00-5.25 years.
According to an Oct. 26 8-K filing, SpaceX will pay rent equal to 5% of the financed cost of each tranche, plus a fixed annual rate on the outstanding balance. SpaceX characterized the transaction as the largest-ever committed GPU financing, exceeding a $36 billion structured notes deal finalized this summer to purchase and lease GPUs to Anthropic. That earlier transaction, backstopped by Broadcom, was led by Apollo and Blackstone.
The deal is expected to close prior to year-end, with leasing beginning in the first half of 2027. Private credit lenders have been increasingly focused on financing the data center buildout, which some investors view as a once-in-a-career opportunity, according to the source reporting.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.