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Meta Platforms is weighing a share sale worth tens of billions of dollars, a move that would follow Alphabet’s record-shattering $85 billion equity raise and underscore just how expensive the AI arms race has become.
The potential offering, first reported by the Financial Times, would help Meta finance a capital expenditure budget that has ballooned to between $125 billion and $145 billion for 2026. That revised range is up from an earlier forecast of $115 billion to $135 billion, a $10 billion bump that tells you everything about how quickly AI infrastructure costs are escalating.
Investors were, to put it mildly, not thrilled. Meta shares dropped 5-7% on June 5, 2026, after the report surfaced.
Alphabet set the template, and it worked
Alphabet’s $85 billion raise, which closed in early June 2026, was initially targeted at $80 billion but got upsized thanks to oversubscription. That $85 billion figure makes it the largest corporate equity capital raise in history.
The deal included a $10 billion private placement to Berkshire Hathaway, with Class A shares priced at roughly $351.81 and Class C shares at approximately $348.20.
Why Meta needs the cash
The $125 billion to $145 billion capex range for 2026 represents a staggering commitment. No banks have been hired yet, and the plans could change. But the fact that Meta is openly exploring an offering of this magnitude signals how seriously leadership is taking the AI spending trajectory.
What this means for investors
The immediate concern for existing Meta shareholders is dilution. The 5-7% stock decline on the news reflects that anxiety directly.
For the crypto market specifically, there’s a notable absence: neither Alphabet nor Meta has signaled any cryptocurrency involvement in their equity strategies. These are pure traditional equity plays, routed through conventional capital markets.
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