Five US tech giants' hidden debt hits $1.65 trillion

Five US tech giants' hidden debt hit $1.65 trillion, up eightfold in four years, according to a Nikkei study reported by Fortune. That's stacked on top of $1.35 trillion in debt already on their balance sheets, and Moody's separate count puts total off-balance-sheet exposure at $1.2 trillion, including more than $820 billion tied to data-center construction.

None of it breaks any accounting rules. These are long-term GPU purchase agreements and data-center leases, structured so they land in footnotes instead of the balance sheet, the way companies have financed big capital commitments for years. What's changed is the scale.

Hyperscaler bond issuance hit $225 billion through the middle of 2026, a 973.7% jump from a year earlier, on pace to reach $400 billion for the year. That's a lot of debt-market capital chasing infrastructure whose payoff depends on AI demand holding at its current level.

S&P says market participants are growing wary of how fast this debt is climbing. That's a ratings agency, not a skeptic with an agenda, calling the pace uncomfortable.

Footnote debt is still debt. If GPU demand slows before these leases and purchase commitments run their course, hyperscalers don't get to keep that exposure off the balance sheet, it just becomes visible at the worst possible time. Watch bond spreads on hyperscaler debt for the first sign credit markets are pricing that in ahead of earnings.