posted in Technology
Five Tech Giants Are Using Enron’s Accounting Strategy to Conceal $1.65 Trillion in AI Debt
www.yahoo.com/finance/technology/ai/articles/five-tech-giants-using-enron-184404206.html
Yahoo FinanceFive Tech Giants Are Using Enron’s Accounting Strategy to Conceal $1.65 Trillion in AI DebtBig Tech hides $1.65 trillion in AI debt off its balance sheets - more than its total reported debt - using legal structures regulators still allow.
Replying to @sanitation@lemmy.today
A Nikkei analysis of financial footnotes at Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Oracle found $1.65 trillion in off-balance-sheet obligations tied to AI infrastructure — binding, must-pay commitments parked in the fine print.
…a company creates or partners with a separate legal entity — a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) — that borrows the money and owns the assets. The tech company signs long-term leases or capacity contracts but doesn’t record the SPV’s debt on its own books.
Replying to @someguy3@lemmy.world
What stops them letting the investment vehicle crash and burn though? It’s a lender problem more than one for the tech companies?
Replying to @Nighed@feddit.uk
Nothing.