Meta Partners With Blue Owl Capital For $27 Billion AI Center

Meta Platforms Inc. is constructing the Hyperion data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, a project that has grown from an initial $10 billion estimate to a $27 billion investment. To finance the campus, Meta formed a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital, in which Blue Owl holds an 80% ownership stake and Meta retains 20%. The deal provided Meta with a one-time $3 billion payout and allows the company to lease the facility on renewable four-year terms, keeping significant debt off its balance sheet via a special-purpose vehicle.

To support the debt, Blue Owl established Beignet Investor LLC to sell $27 billion in bonds, with PIMCO investing approximately $18 billion and BlackRock acquiring $3 billion. Meta provided a residual value guarantee for the first 16 years to protect investors if the company exits its short-term leases. The facility is designed to provide up to 5 gigawatts of computing power by 2030 to support Meta's Superintelligence Labs.

The project has faced local criticism over transparency and infrastructure costs. Entergy is building three gas-powered plants and a $550 million transmission line to meet the site's massive power demands, which could exceed the peak consumption of New Orleans. While Meta has pledged $200 million for local infrastructure and $1 million for low-income bill assistance, consumer advocates and Commissioner Davante Lewis have warned that ratepayers could be burdened if Meta departs. Financial analysts remain divided, with some viewing the structure as a prudent risk-sharing model and others citing it as a sign of an AI investment bubble.