Sources: Alphabet plans to sell a rare 100-year sterling bond, as Big Tech companies borrow more to fund their capex growth; IBM sold a 100-year bond in 1996

Deal comes as Google parent steps up AI borrowing rush with $15bn sale of dollar bonds — Alphabet has lined up banks to sell …

Financial Times 2026-02-10

Context & Ripple Effects

Alphabet’s reported long-dated sterling financing plan follows its earlier $10B corporate bond issuance in 2020 and coincides with related coverage of a record $20B US-dollar sale. Together, the items show Alphabet broadening both the scale and currency mix of its debt funding.

The significance is less the rarity of one maturity than its place in a wider Big Tech borrowing push tied to capital-expenditure growth. A century bond would test whether public credit markets will finance that spending on exceptionally long horizons.

First-order effects

If completed, the sterling bond would give Alphabet another source of long-term funding and extend the maturity profile available for its capex program.
Bond investors would gain a rare ultra-long sterling exposure to Alphabet, while the company’s funding becomes less concentrated in dollar borrowing.

Second-order effects

A successful issue could provide a pricing and demand reference for other large technology borrowers considering long-dated or non-dollar debt for infrastructure spending.
Banks and debt investors may devote more attention to the currency, duration and refinancing risks attached to AI-linked capex, rather than evaluating issuance solely as conventional corporate debt.

Third-order effects

If similar borrowing continues, AI infrastructure investment could become more dependent on capital-markets capacity, tying expansion plans more closely to credit conditions and investor appetite.
The broader shift is toward funding compute build-outs with diversified, long-duration financing; whether that endures will depend on whether investment returns support the added leverage.

The trend: Big Tech is moving from balance-sheet-funded expansion toward more diversified debt financing for AI-era infrastructure investment.

Discussion

@morningbrew @morningbrew on x
We're entering the “issuing 100-year debt” stage of the AI hype cycle [image]
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
they're going to need to pay demis hassabis's avatar for at least that long
@matthew_sigel @matthew_sigel on x
GOOGL selling 100-year debt 😯 [image]
@seemacnbc Seema Mody on x
Alphabet's mega bond deal officially priced - upsized from $15b to $20b. Way oversubscribed, likely more than 5x, per sources $GOOG
@stevehou Steve Hou on x
If we really do get AGI much less ASI what happens to all the financial securities that have maturities beyond 5 years including stocks that have indefinite maturities?
@dampedspring Andy Constan on x
People enjoying themselves on 100 year bonds today. Fwiw compared to a perfectly normal 30 year bond a 100 year bond is just not that different. The price of both is 100 AND most of the NPV of the each is the first 30 years of coupons. 86% in both cases. So the “difference is
@faisalislam Faisal Islam on x
Intriguing that Google-owner Alphabet opts to raise many billions in sterling including rare 100 year bond previously only done by Oxford Uni/ Wellcome Trust suggests l-t faith in UK & £, as well as Google's commitment to home of eg Deepmind... pricing v gilts will be interesting
@michaeljburry Cassandra Unchained on x
Alphabet looking to issue a 100-year bond. Last time this happened was Motorola in 1997, which was the last year Motorola was considered a big deal. At the start of 1997, Motorola was a top 25 market cap and top 25 revenue corporation in America. Never again. The Motorola cor…
@faisalislam Faisal Islam on x
Also raising in dollar, Euro and CHF it should be said.... Also remarkable that google which is generating so much revenue is funding its AI buildout in this way... if they are matching long term assets and liabilities, suggests ongoing investment in UK from one of the current
@thestalwart Joe Weisenthal on x
The last time a tech company announced a 100-year bond, it was Motorola in 1997 https://www.bloomberg.com/... [image]
@dadiomov Dimitri Dadiomov on x
Investors went from “bearish about Google” to “sure I'll buy a 100-year bond” https://www.ft.com/...
@firstadopter Tae Kim on x
@michaeljburry Alphabet's core web search business also faces considerable disruption risk from chatbots.
@zerohedge @zerohedge on x
*GOOGLE-PARENT ALPHABET KICKS OFF SEVEN-PART US DOLLAR BOND SALE The next debt bubble

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