Google issues 100-year bonds to bet on the long term: Is history repeating itself?

Recalling Jean-Jacques de la Po's time as Mayor of Montreal, he consistently championed hosting the 1976 Olympics. He famously said: This sporting event cannot be burdened with debt, just as a man cannot give birth. De Lapo died in 1999. The Olympics ultimately left behind 1.6 billion Canadian dollars (equivalent to 11.8 billion US dollars). leaf="">）Debt——Jokeed as“——"——“Green Bonds”. The most recent high-rated company to issue century-old bonds is Motorola—which issued such bonds in 1997 and was later split into two separate companies in 2011. Other US blue-chip companies, such as Disney, Coca-Cola, and IBM, also... In the early 1990s, 100-year bonds were issued. At that time, the yield on 30-year US Treasury bonds was at a two-decade low of approximately 6%. At the time, locking in interest rates slightly above that level seemed like an excellent opportunity to secure long-term funding. However, this was not the case. Subsequently, over the next 15 years, the yield on the 30-year benchmark Treasury bond fell again for a full 30 years. style="font-family:Calibri">5percentage points,2020reached a low of 1.27% during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means that companies like Coca-Cola, when paying coupons of 7.375% on their century bonds, could have... The coupon rate is only approximately 2.375%. Not to mention the changes in the business environment. In the late 1990s, Coca-Cola's market capitalization was $430 billion, but it remained relatively stable until the late 1990s. It wasn't until 2016 that it returned to this level. As one of the most influential technology companies globally for decades, IBM began a long decline shortly after issuing its 100-year bond in 1996. Microsoft, Apple, and even Google, among other emerging companies, began to dominate the dot-com bubble era. Michael Burry, the investor who inspired the novel *The Big Short*, wrote on social media: "In early 1997, Motorola ranked among the top in the US in terms of both market capitalization and revenue." "The company, whose brand value ranks first in the United States, even surpassing Microsoft, is 25th." "Today, Motorola's market capitalization ranks only 232nd." "Sales revenue was only $110 billion," he added. Google itself is also making a huge bet on the future: not only reflected in its capital expenditure plans for 2026, but also in its investments in self-driving cars, robotics, artificial intelligence, and leveraging next-generation technologies. Willow is on broader ambitions, such as processors advancing quantum computing. But even Sundar Pichai, in envisioning the company's future, said, "The moon landing program..." Even with such ambition, they dare not make bold predictions far exceeding the next decade. However, investors seem far more eager. It is reported that Google's $200 billion bond issuance (in Swiss francs, British pounds, and US dollars, with maturities ranging from 3 years to the aforementioned 100-year term) has seen overall demand exceeding [amount missing]. text="">10001000 billion US dollars. Nancy Tengler, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of the investment company, has an explanation for this. She said: "I think you have to look at this in a completely different way than when I was doing money management in the 90s, because these days..." Tech giants possess enormous cash reserves. She added: "We're not just betting on AI—we also see potential in robotics, space, quantum mechanics, and nuclear energy as key areas to refine our strategy, and these..." The field will bring about substantial changes. One hundred years from now, whether it's debt, equity, or anything else... style="font-family:SimSun">，Everything isAn unknown.

ButIt's hard not to recall the unintentional yet wise words of baseball legend Yogi Bella. He once lamented: "Making predictions is very difficult, especially predicting the future."