Google and YouTube parent Alphabet is reportedly eyeing its inaugural Australian dollar bond issue. It has already mandated investment banks to work on three-, five-, 10-, and 20-year bonds.
ANZ, Deutsche Bank, RBC Capital Markets, and TD Securities have emerged as the joint lead managers on the transaction.
The three-year and five-year bonds could be reportedly issued with fixed or floating rates, while the 10- and 20-year bonds would be issued with fixed rates.
Alphabet, earlier this month, raised USD 25 billion in dollar bonds following an almost USD 85 billion equity capital raise in June. The tech giant’s heightened market movements come amid its global peers increasingly moving towards capital markets to fund their massive AI spending, after typically relying on their large cash reserves to fund investments.
The firms are expected to spend more than USD 730 billion this year primarily on AI, and the outlay is already squeezing cash flows. Alphabet posted its first ever negative free cash flow in its second-quarter report in late July.
In Australia, local currency bonds are becoming increasingly popular among some of the world’s biggest issuers as they look to diversify their reliance on dollar bond transactions.
Known as “Kangaroo Bond,” the financial tool’s sales, especially from foreign issuers, have been at a record high of around AUSD 60 billion (USD 42 billion) so far in 2026, up roughly 40% from 2025, according to LSEG data tracking internationally placed deals till late July.
Alphabet, however, has remained strong on the financial front. Its early investment in Elon Musk-led SpaceX has grown more than 100-fold over the past decade, with the Google parent’s stake in Elon Musk’s rocket company valued at about USD 94.2 billion at the end of June, regulatory filings show.
Alphabet invested USD 900 million in SpaceX in 2015, providing a rare benchmark for measuring the extraordinary increase in value of an early stake in the company.
At SpaceX’s June 30 closing price of USD 170.86, Alphabet’s holding was worth USD 94.2 billion. At Thursday’s (August 13) price, the stake would be valued at about USD 77.9 billion, still representing a gain of roughly 86.5 times the original investment.
The filings provide a glimpse into how early backers and institutional investors have benefited as SpaceX moved from a closely held startup into a publicly traded company.
Fidelity Investments was the second-largest reported institutional holder, with 302.6 million shares, followed by Gigafund Management with 171.8 million. Baillie Gifford and BlackRock held 51.4 million and 51 million shares, respectively.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) disclosed 154.1 million SpaceX shares, worth USD 26.3 billion at the end of June. Other disclosed investors included Hancock Prospecting, Brookfield, Tiger Global Management, and Balyasny Asset Management.
The five largest reported institutional holders—Alphabet, Fidelity, Gigafund, Baillie Gifford, and BlackRock—accounted for nearly three-quarters of the SpaceX shares disclosed in regulatory filings, highlighting the concentration of institutional ownership.
SpaceX debuted on June 12 at USD 135 a share. Its stock subsequently fell from its June-end level, closing at USD 141.29 on Thursday, although it remained 4.7% above its IPO price.
Market activity has remained strong, with SpaceX among the most actively traded stocks among Interactive Brokers customers. Retail investors, who are not required to disclose their holdings through SEC filings, became net sellers on Friday for the first time since the IPO, according to Vanda Research.
The firm estimated retail investors sold a net USD 4.5 million of SpaceX shares that day. Despite recent volatility, the stock has gained about 30% since August 5, underscoring continued investor interest in the newly listed company.
Apart from the SpaceX boost, Alphabet has another piece of good news to savor, as Berkshire Hathaway boosted the size of its investment in the Google parent by 83% in the second quarter, making the tech giant its third-largest stock holding.
The American conglomerate now owns nearly 106 million Alphabet shares worth about USD 37.8 billion, up from 57.8 million shares three months earlier. The stake included a USD 10 billion investment announced in June to help Alphabet expand its AI infrastructure.
Apple has remained Berkshire’s largest stock investment, worth USD 66 billion, followed by American Express (USD 51.3 billion), Coca-Cola, and Bank of America, respectively.