Alphabet priced $84.75 billion in equity on June 2, knocking out Petroleo Brasileiro’s $70 billion offering from 2010 to claim the largest equity offering ever recorded. The day before, the company had announced only $80 billion.
The deal runs three tranches: $34.75 billion in underwritten public offerings (upsized from $30 billion), a $40 billion at-the-market program primarily to cover employee equity tax obligations, and a $10 billion Berkshire Hathaway private placement at $351.81 per Class A share and $348.20 per Class C share.
The $4.75 billion upsize from the initial $80 billion reflects investor demand for AI infrastructure exposure. Alphabet’s own language is starker: its AI solutions are “exceeding available supply.” That’s a capacity problem investors are paying to fix.
Proceeds from the public offerings and the Berkshire placement go toward AI infrastructure capital expenditure. Alphabet raised its full-year 2026 capex guidance to $180-$190 billion in April, up $5 billion from its prior forecast, and told investors that 2027 spending will “significantly increase” from there.
Berkshire’s $10 billion at a slight discount to the public offering price is the most telling data point in the structure: Buffett’s firm doesn’t commit that size to infrastructure builds without conviction in the demand side. Google’s cloud and services revenue will need to compound fast enough to justify diluting shareholders by $84.75 billion. That math is Alphabet’s to solve.
— Diana Kowalski