This deal marks the latest collaboration between Elon Musk's company and the asset management firm. SpaceX (SPCX) has reached an agreement to pay $400 billion to an affiliated entity under Apollo Global Management for leasing artificial intelligence chips.
The transaction structure is as follows: Apollo will issue debt to raise funds for purchasing the chips, then lease the chips to SpaceX. Through this arrangement, SpaceX can obtain Nvidia's most advanced computing chips while keeping this debt off its own balance sheet.
According to a press release published on Apollo's official website, BlackRock, Goldman Sachs, which served as the deal's structuring advisor, and funds and accounts managed by KKR are the cornerstone investors in this transaction.
SpaceX stated in a filing submitted today that the funds will be used to procure Nvidia GPU computing modules. The equipment will be delivered in batches, with each batch corresponding to specific lease terms of approximately five years.
The transaction is scheduled to close before the end of this year, with the first lease expected to commence in the first half of 2027. Lease pricing has not yet been disclosed and will be determined before the lease takes effect.
SpaceX holds a substantial amount of scarce AI computing resources. Elon Musk said last week that the company expects to bring an additional 10 gigawatts of computing capacity online next year. Beyond supporting its own Grok chatbot business, SpaceX has now grown into an important computing supplier for leading AI laboratories.
Apollo has historically maintained deep collaborations with multiple companies controlled by Musk. Earlier this year, the asset management firm participated in a $54 billion financing round for what was then named xAI Corp, with Apollo leading the underwriting of $35 billion in debt.
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