As major tech companies race to increase their artificial intelligence investments, even Microsoft (MS), which has traditionally been cautious about borrowing, has turned to issuing bonds.

Bloomberg reported on the 29th, local time, that Microsoft has set out to issue US dollar-denominated corporate bonds worth at least $25 billion, or approximately 33.5 trillion won.

This marks the first time in nine years, since 2017, that Microsoft has tapped the US bond market.

The bonds are being issued across 10 tranches with varying maturities ranging from 2 years to 40 years, with the yield on the longest-dated tranche maturing in 2066 set at 1.05 percentage points higher than US Treasuries.

This is lower than the credit spreads of 1.3 to 1.4 percentage points applied to the 40-year bonds of Alphabet, Meta, and Oracle.

This is attributed to Microsoft's credit rating being evaluated at "AAA," the highest level among major tech companies.

Orders exceeding $115 billion poured in for Microsoft's latest bond offering, more than four times the volume issued.

The bond issuance was managed by Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and UBS Group, and the raised funds will be used for general corporate purposes, including capital expenditures.

Microsoft previously eased investor concerns the previous day by announcing its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2027 (July–September), showing an increase in capital expenditures while maintaining a surplus in free cash flow (FCF).

Driven by soaring costs for building AI data centers—brought on by semiconductor supply crunches and other factors—corporate bond issuances by companies are repeatedly breaking all-time highs.

This year, investment-grade bond issuances by hyperscalers worldwide have surpassed $313 billion, or roughly 420 trillion won, reaching nearly three times last year's issuance volume.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)