SpaceX Closes $40 Billion GPU Financing as Musk Warns Neoclouds Face Consolidation

SpaceX said it closed a $40 billion financing deal to buy AI chips for its data centers, with Elon Musk warning that debt markets have largely cut off companies dependent on AI data center revenue. An Apollo Global Management-managed entity will buy the GPUs and lease them to SpaceX under a finance lease, per a regulatory filing. SpaceX would repay roughly $40 billion in principal through quarterly installments over about five years, plus interest at a fixed rate not yet set. Chip deliveries arrive in batches, with leases beginning in the first half of 2027. Moody's rated SpaceX Baa1 in June, an investment-grade level, which Musk cited alongside Starlink and launch revenue as reasons it secured the debt. Musk said on X that "200+ neoclouds are going to see guppy-level death and consolidation. Some will make it through, but not many." CoreWeave (CRWV), the largest neocloud, fell about 30% between September 30 and October 16, from $87 to $61, and carries roughly $50 billion in debt. Its unsecured bonds yielded about 15% in mid-October. SpaceX expects to finalize the master finance lease before the end of 2026.