Alphabet Raises $31.5B in Bond Sale with Minimal Investor Protections

Tech giant's bond offering highlights investor confidence in major AI companies despite lack of standard covenants.

Published on Feb. 13, 2026

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Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, raised $31.51 billion across U.S. dollar, sterling, and Swiss franc bond markets this week, underscoring the high level of investor demand for major AI hyperscalers. However, the bond sale lacked standard investor protections, such as change-in-control covenants, raising concerns about the growing debt pile of these tech giants and the potential risks for future bondholders.

Why it matters

Alphabet's bond sale, along with similar offerings from other tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle, highlights the growing importance of AI-driven spending and the willingness of investors to finance it, even without typical bondholder safeguards. This trend could make it easier for smaller and lower-rated tech companies to issue debt with fewer protections, potentially creating risks for future bondholders.

The details

Alphabet's bond sale included the use of a 100-year "century" bond in the sterling market, and its $20 billion U.S. bond offering drew over $100 billion in demand. However, the bonds lacked standard investor protections, such as change-in-control covenants, which are typically included in investment-grade debt agreements to protect investors in the event of mergers and acquisitions or other ownership changes. Experts warn that the lack of these guardrails could create issues for future bond buyers, as prices will be more sensitive to interest rates, market sentiment, and liquidity.

  • Alphabet raised $31.51 billion in a global bond sale on Monday and Tuesday, February 13-14, 2026.
  • The five major AI hyperscalers - Amazon, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle - issued $121 billion in U.S. corporate bonds in 2025, according to a January 2026 report by BofA Securities.
  • Oracle issued $25 billion in bonds on February 2, 2026, and Meta issued $30 billion in bonds in October 2025, both also lacking standard change-in-control covenants.

The players

Alphabet Inc.

The parent company of Google and a major player in the AI hyperscaler space.

Julia Khandoshko

The CEO of Cyprus-based broker Mind Money.

Anthony Canales

The head of global research at New York-based Covenant Review.

Tom Curcurro

A BofA Securities analyst.

Jordan Chalfin

A senior analyst at the New York-based research firm CreditSights.

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What they’re saying

“What stands out is what's missing. Once a big name gets covenant-light terms through, others will try the same.”

— Julia Khandoshko, CEO, Mind Money

“In most IG covenant packages you would expect to see a change-in-control covenant. But these are huge companies where the investors don't believe there's great risk they'll need these protections.”

— Anthony Canales, Head of Global Research, Covenant Review

“This massive AI infrastructure buildout requires so much capex from the hyperscalers that they want to reduce the technical impact on their bonds. I wouldn't expect there to be any real covenant protections.”

— Jordan Chalfin, Senior Analyst, CreditSights

What’s next

Analysts will be closely watching future bond offerings from both large and smaller tech companies to see if they follow Alphabet's lead in issuing debt with minimal investor protections.

The takeaway

Alphabet's bond sale highlights the growing influence of AI-driven spending and the willingness of investors to finance it, even without standard bondholder safeguards. This trend could make it easier for tech companies to issue debt with fewer protections, potentially creating risks for future bondholders as the hyperscaler debt pile continues to grow.