Meta has $43 billion in cash and cash equivalents as of December 2024 [0]. What is the reason for not using part of those reserves, and issuing debt instead, costing them hundreds of millions in fees to investment banks and bondholders?

Also, if they are issuing bonds to the public, does that mean that private lenders aren't lending any more?

[0] https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/META/balance-sheet/

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Tiktaalik 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

It offloads some risk, less directly onto meta, and more shared by outside investors.

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ceejayoz 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Why risk your own money when people are lining up to risk theirs?

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drevil-v2 3 days ago | parent [-]

It's a bond sale. They get preferential treatment in case of insolvency.

	▲	ceejayoz 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		Sure, but they aren't insolvent until (at the very least) they spend that $43B on hand. I don't forsee it happening to Facebook anytime soon, but companies going to $0 isn't unprecedented.