Meta Seeks Up to $95 Billion in Equity to Fund AI Spending

Meta Platforms Inc. is seeking to raise as much as $95 billion from selling common and preferred stock, tapping investors for support in the race to lead artificial intelligence’s development.

The company is offering about $35 billion of common and preferred stock, according to a statement Monday. It also plans to raise as much as about $60 billion in an at-the-market share sale program, which allows companies to sell shares in the open market from time to time. The ATM will consist of its planned Class C non-voting shares.

Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and Broadcom Inc. have agreed to buy as much as $5 billion of the common shares in aggregate, the statement shows. Meta intends to use the proceeds to support its investment in AI infrastructure and personal superintelligence.

Meta’s shares pared initial losses, climbing 1.6% to $654 each in premarket trading on Monday in New York. Its shares have fallen 2.7% this year through Friday’s close.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg overhauled the company’s AI operation through an aggressive hiring push, and has launched new products as well as committed hundreds of billions of dollars to build out the infrastructure needed to support the models.

Meta has unveiled a personal AI agent known as Muse, and an AI model called Muse Wonder that leadership say is on par with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic PBC’s Claude in terms of tasks such as coding.

Read More: Meta Says New Muse Model Hits AI Frontier After Aggressive Push

The first part of the offering consists of 250 million depositary shares that represent a 1/20th interest in mandatory convertible preferred shares, as well as $22.5 billion on Meta’s Class A common shares. Details of the ATM program have yet to be determined, the statement shows.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are leading Meta’s share offerings, according to the statement.

During its earnings report, Meta announced a new class of nonvoting stock that could ultimately be used to help pay for acquisitions and other expenses. Meta’s Class C shares will be distributed to existing investors through a stock dividend. Holders will get one share of the new stock in what will essentially be a two-for-one stock split, Meta said. It expects trading of the new shares to begin in January.

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