AI Giants Accused of Hiding $1.65 Trillion in Off-Balance-Sheet Debt, Echoing Enron
marigo · x · 2026-07-30
A Nikkei Asia investigation reveals that five major tech giants—Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle—are hiding an estimated $1.65 trillion in debt related to their massive AI data center investments. This off-balance-sheet debt does not appear on their official financial statements and actually exceeds the $1.35 trillion in officially reported debt for the most recent quarter.
Meta alone has amassed around $420 billion in off-balance-sheet debt. By using special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and other off-balance-sheet arrangements, these companies are making their financial reporting look healthier than it actually is—a practice drawing comparisons to the spectacular collapse of Enron in 2001.
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