Chips & Hardware
Waymo closes first-ever debt deal: a $5B loan from Blackstone, PIMCO
Waymo closed its first debt financing, a $5 billion loan from lenders including PIMCO, Blackstone, and Sixth Street, as it expands robotaxi service into new U.S., European, and Japanese markets.
Waymo, the autonomous vehicle company under Google parent Alphabet, closed a $5 billion loan — its first debt financing — from a group of high-profile lenders including PIMCO, Blackstone, and Sixth Street. Other lenders in the deal include Capital Group, T. Rowe Price, Apollo, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and several others, Waymo said Thursday; Goldman Sachs served as sole lead bookrunner.
The financing comes as Waymo accelerates commercial expansion in existing cities while pushing into new markets in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Until now, Waymo has relied on capital from Alphabet and outside investors: in February, it raised $16 billion in equity that pushed its valuation to $126 billion, led by Dragoneer Investment Group, DST Global, and Sequoia Capital, with Alphabet remaining majority investor. The company had previously raised $5.6 billion in a Series C round in 2024, $2.5 billion in 2021, and $3.2 billion in 2020. A Waymo spokesperson said the debt financing will give the company financial flexibility to strengthen its balance sheet and position it to “capitalize on the significant opportunities ahead, especially as a scaling business with proven commercial demand and improved road safety outcomes in the communities in which we operate.”
Once a self-driving project inside Google, Waymo tested for years on public roads in Silicon Valley before expanding to Phoenix in 2016, its first robotaxi market. After receiving the final permit to charge for robotaxi rides in California in August 2023, the company expanded aggressively, launching in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego, plus other U.S. markets including Austin, Dallas, and Houston in Texas, and Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in Florida. Waymo now offers robotaxi service in 15 markets and is testing in London and Tokyo ahead of launches there.
That growth has drawn regulatory scrutiny. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation opened a probe into illegal behavior by Waymo robotaxis around school buses, and separately launched an investigation after a Waymo vehicle hit a child near a school, striking the child — who sustained minor injuries — at about six mph. Earlier this year, the National Transportation Safety Board opened its own investigation after Waymo robotaxis were spotted illegally passing stopped school buses numerous times in at least two states.
Why it matters
Tapping debt for the first time, instead of more equity, signals Waymo now sees its robotaxi business as cash-generative enough to service a loan — even as safety investigations pile up alongside its expansion.