2026년 2월 10일 · Unknown · financial · 출처 Uk
Google’s parent company plans to become one of a select group of institutions to borrow money for a century, issuing a 100-year bond in sterling.
Alphabet plans to issue the bond as part of plans to raise more than $20bn (£15bn) across a range of currencies, according to reports. It comes as Google seeks to fund a $185bn spending blitz on AI infrastructure.
Only three entities – the University of Oxford, the Wellcome Trust, and the French-backed energy giant EDF – have previously issued sterling-based century bonds.
In other currencies, 100-year bonds are more typically associated with sovereign countries –with Austria, Mexico and Argentina amongst those issuing debt for a century.
Disney famously issued “Sleeping Beauty” century dollar bonds in 1993, nicknamed after the 100-year slumber of the eponymous princess, while IBM and Coca Cola have also issued debt that matures towards the end of the 21st century.
Alphabet’s 100-year issuance is unique because the company was founded just 28 years ago.
The University of Oxford had existed for 800 years when it issued a century bond in 2017, while the Wellcome Trust’s 100-year bond in 2018 came more than 80 years after the foundation’s creation.
The decision by Google to borrow over a century to fund its AI ambitions acts as a litmus test for investor faith in the technology.
Alphabet and other Silicon Valley companies have argued that AI is a once-in-a-generation breakthrough that will fundamentally reshape society and deliver riches to those that control it.
Tech bubble fears
However, stock markets tumbled last week amid concerns that companies linked to the technology were overhyped and over-valued.
The bond was five times oversubscribed with $100bn of demand, according to Bloomberg. The Nasdaq stock index, a barometer of tech industry confidence, rallied 1pc on Wall Street on Monday.
Alphabet’s is the first bond of its kind in the tech industry since before the dotcom crash. IBM and Motorola both issued century bonds in the Nineties.
It marks Alphabet’s second major bond sale in four months after the company raised $17.5bn in November. The company said last week it planned to double capital expenditure this year to $185bn amid surging demand for AI computing resources.
AI systems such as ChatGPT and Google’s own Gemini use vast amounts of computing power, leading to a spending arms race between Google and other “hyperscalers” such as Amazon, Microsoft and Oracle.
Google, Meta, Amazon and Meta have outlined plans to spend around $660bn this year, a 60pc increase on what they spent last year. Sceptics have warned it could amount to a new tech bubble.
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The century bond will represent the first time Google has borrowed in sterling, alongside a debut Swiss franc bond and multiple dollar tranches.
Both the time frame and the array of currencies demonstrate a desire to reach a wide range of investors as the company strives to raise such a large sum.
Alphabet said last week it has $127bn in cash after revealing a 32pc increase in annual profits.
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