Meta aims to raise $95 billion in equity for its AI ambitions

The amounts mentioned are commensurate with the ambitions. To finance its expansion into artificial intelligence and associated infrastructure spending, Meta plans to raise up to $95 billion through the issuance of new shares. The operation would be carried out in several stages.

According to several documents published Monday by the SEC, the American financial markets authority, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram will first carry out a capital increase, for an amount of 35 billion dollars. “AI creates significant opportunities for Meta, both in its core business and in its new products and services,” the company said in a statement. New type of shares But the American giant also announces that it wants to launch in a second phase an additional share issuance program, for a maximum amount of 60 billion dollars.

No date is given, but according to the Financial Times, this raising would be done via an at-the-market program, which should begin in the first quarter of 2027. Last Wednesday, during the publication of its quarterly results, Mark Zuckerberg's group announced the creation of a new type of shares, without voting rights, to support possible future capital increases. Today, Meta has two classes of shares: those called class A, which only give the right to a single vote, and special shares with multiple voting rights (called class B, with ten voting rights), majority owned by Mark Zuckerberg.

This allows it to maintain control despite the progressive dilutions caused by transfers of securities or capital increases. Currently, Mark Zuckerberg only holds around 13% of Meta's capital, but retains nearly 61% of the voting rights, which gives him absolute control of the group and its board of directors. Reference investors For its $35 billion fundraising, Meta benefits from the support of the three major chip manufacturers Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom, who will act as cornerstone investors.

In other words, these groups commit in advance to purchase a fixed amount, before the official launch of the subscription period. According to Meta, together they could bring in up to $5 billion. In exchange, the American giant undertakes to continue to source from them the chips and other components necessary for its AI data centers.

Tech giants all use financial markets to finance their AI ambitions. Before Meta, Google launched an $80 billion new share issuance program in June to finance its colossal investments, and Space X went public. Engaged in a race for frontier models, Meta is expected to invest up to $145 billion in AI in 2026, twice as much as last year.

Machine-translated from French