On October 29, 2026, Microsoft moved to raise at least $25 billion in the bond market, its first such sale in more than nine years, offered in 10 parts with maturities from two to 40 years. The sale lands the same day Alphabet's earnings wiped out roughly $470 billion in market cap on negative free cash flow. The discussion weighs Microsoft's AAA ratings and $20 billion quarterly free cash flow against the broader rush to finance the AI build-out, and now centers on the gap between a weighted average cost of debt close to zero and a cost of equity around 14%.