Microsoft's $25B bond sale
Business · Heat 5.5 / 10 · 2 shows · 13m airtime
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%.
How 2 podcasts covered it
- Bloomberg Tech, 2026-10-29 (3:22 to 10:34)
Lays out the 10-tranche bond structure
Lays out the bond sale's structure - at least $25 billion across 10 tranches from two to 40 years - and sets it against Microsoft's $20 billion quarterly and roughly $80 billion trailing free cash flow, with the guest calling Microsoft the clear earnings-season winner over Alphabet.
New angle: Microsoft is raising at least $25 billion in 10 parts, maturities two to 40 years, its first bond sale since 2017. - Bloomberg Tech, 2026-10-29 (24:29 to 28:15)
Reads the bond sale as a spending signal
Brings on a Bloomberg Intelligence credit analyst to read the bond sale as a signal the hyperscale spending cycle has not peaked. Adds the credit math: Microsoft outranks the U.S. government, could place $100 billion, and carries a near-zero cost of debt against a 14% cost of equity.
New angle: Microsoft's weighted average cost of debt is close to zero against a cost of equity around 14%. - The Compound and Friends, 2026-10-30 (43:50 to 46:13)
Frames the bond sale with cloud growth charts
Uses Microsoft's cloud revenue chart - 30% growth, fastest since Q3 2022 at nearly three times the size - to frame the $25 billion debt offering and a stock that fell anyway. The bond sale itself is a one-line recap; the new material is cloud growth and the buyback-to-issuance reversal.