Title:   Why Google is Selling $85B of Itself — Cash, debt, or equity: how Big Tech pays for AI
Source:  App Economy Insights (Substack newsletter)
Author:  App Economy Insights
Date:    2026-JUN-09
URL:     https://www.appeconomyinsights.com/p/why-google-is-selling-85b-of-itself
Type:    Written newsletter (data-viz / financial analysis; no video, no timestamps). Saved for personal study.
Note:    Key points & figures extracted from the published post (the live post + its charts are the source of truth).
         This is analytical journalism, not stock recommendations — stances below are "referenced/neutral".

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THESIS
Big Tech is exhausting its self-funding capacity for the AI buildout and must choose between three ways to pay:
use existing cash flow, issue debt, or sell equity. Each choice signals a different level of confidence and risk
tolerance about the AI capex cycle.

ALPHABET / GOOGLE
- Sold ~$85 billion of new stock in two days (the offering was upsized from $80B).
- Holds $120B+ in cash and short-term investments and generated ~$165B of operating cash flow last year.
- Expects ~$190B of capital expenditures in 2026 alone.
- Chose equity issuance despite a strong cash position — the headline signal of the piece.

AMAZON
- Projected ~$200B of capex for 2026 (up ~67% Y/Y).
- Operating cash flow ~$149B (trailing 12 months, +30% Y/Y), but free cash flow collapsed to ~$1B as of Q1 2026
  (down from ~$38B in 2024) — "growth and free cash flow pulling in opposite directions."
- AWS reaccelerated to ~28% Y/Y growth (fastest in nearly four years); essentially spending all the cash it makes.

MICROSOFT & META
- Both still fund the majority of their AI capex from existing operations (no equity raise needed yet).

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
- Anchored Alphabet's equity offering with a ~$10B investment, reportedly at a ~6–8% discount.

SPACEX
- Referenced as a private comparable, cited around a ~$75B IPO valuation.

KEY FIGURES
- $85B Alphabet equity raise · $120B+ Alphabet cash · $165B Alphabet operating CF · $190B Alphabet 2026 capex
- $200B Amazon 2026 capex · $149B Amazon operating CF · ~$1B Amazon FCF (from ~$38B in 2024)
- $10B Berkshire anchor in the Alphabet deal · $75B SpaceX IPO valuation