Mark Zuckerberg asked Wall Street for $95 billion. Then Meta raised it to $97.5 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platforms said on Monday, Oct. 26, that it plans to raise $95 billion by selling stock, its largest equity raise ever, to pay for artificial intelligence infrastructure, CNBC reported. A day later the company raised the plan to $97.5 billion, according to Reuters.

The plan. Meta first planned to raise $35 billion in underwritten public offerings, then up to $60 billion more through an at-the-market program, which sells shares over time at market prices, CNBC reported. That program is expected to begin after Meta’s planned non-voting Class C shares start trading in the first quarter of 2027, Reuters reported.

The upsizing. On Oct. 27 Meta said it priced $25 billion of Class A common stock at $625 a share, up from the $22.5 billion it announced Monday. It also priced 250 million depositary shares of 6.50% mandatory convertible preferred stock at $50 each, about $12.5 billion, the company said. The common stock offering was expected to close Oct. 29.

The buyers. Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices and Broadcom were interested in buying up to $5 billion of the shares, Meta said. On Oct. 27 Nvidia and AMD announced investments of $3 billion and $1 billion, Reuters reported. That raised concerns about money flowing in a circle, with chip suppliers helping fund one of their biggest customers, according to Reuters.

Why now. Meta’s spending on AI is running ahead of its cash. In its third-quarter results, revenue rose 26% to $64.60 billion, but investors focused on negative free cash flow and a higher full-year capital spending forecast of $135 billion to $145 billion, CNBC reported. Meta says the money will support its apps, its AI agent Muse, its data center business and what it calls “personal superintelligence.”

What they’re saying. “We expect investors to continue to question the financing and potential for future capital raises,” William Blair analysts wrote, according to Reuters. The decision “reflects the eye-watering levels of investment required to keep up in the AI arms race,” Ben Wood of CCS Insight told CNBC.

The control question. The new Class C shares carry no votes, which lets Meta raise money and pay talent while keeping Zuckerberg’s control, Reuters reported.

This is news, not financial advice.