SpaceX Locks In $40 Billion GPU Financing Deal with Apollo

SpaceX disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday that it has reached a binding commitment for approximately $40 billion in financing for AI chips and related data center equipment from an entity managed by New York-based private equity giant Apollo Global Management. SpaceX described the deal as the "largest committed GPU financing."

Under the agreement, the Apollo-managed entity will purchase the chips and server hardware and then lease the equipment to SpaceX. The leases will last about five to five-and-a-quarter years, beginning when each tranche of equipment is delivered. SpaceX expects the deal to close by year-end, subject to closing conditions, with leases starting in the first half of 2027 as the GPUs and related equipment arrive.

"This lease diversifies our funding sources and addresses a notable portion of the funding required to deliver on our growth plans," SpaceX CFO Bret Johnsen said in a statement, noting that the company is seeing "less than one-year payback periods" on its AI infrastructure investments as it scales compute to power Grok and its cloud services. Apollo stated that the financing will help deliver Nvidia's next-generation Vera Rubin chips for SpaceX's "terrestrial compute buildout."

Prior reports indicated SpaceX was seeking $40 billion in financing through loans and investment-grade bonds, but these plans were unconfirmed. This disclosure clarifies the transaction structure as an equipment lease rather than traditional debt or equity financing, and provides specific timelines.