The main thing for the morning: new megaprojects of Meta and Micron and a $300 trillion mistake

Meta Platforms is preparing the largest private equity deal in history - nearly $30 billion to deploy a Hyperion data center in Louisiana. New York State approved the construction of a power line for Micron's $100 billion megafactory, which is expected to produce a quarter of all U.S. chips by 2030. These and other topics - in our review of key events by the morning of October 17.
Meta has raised a record $30 billion for its largest data center
Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Platforms plans to make the largest private deal in history - almost $30 billion to finance the construction of the Hyperion data center in Louisiana, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. The project is being realized jointly with Blue Owl Capital, with Meta retaining only a 20% stake. Morgan Stanley has arranged more than $27 billion of debt and about $2.5 billion of equity financing through a special SPV structure, which avoids reflecting the debt on the company's balance sheet.
SPV will become the owner of the assets and the borrower, while Meta will become the developer, operator and tenant of the center, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2029. This financing format gives technology giants the opportunity to build infrastructure without deteriorating credit ratings, while investors can invest in physical assets with investment ratings, the agency explains.
The Hyperion complex will be the largest of Meta's 29 data centers: its area is 4 million square feet, and its capacity at its peak can reach 5 GW - the equivalent of powering about 4 million homes. In parallel, Meta is developing similar sites in Texas and Ohio.
New York has approved a transmission line for Micron's $100 billion mega-plant
The New York State Public Utilities Commission has approved the construction of a new underground power line that will connect the Clay substation to the future Micron Technology plant in Oneida County, Reuters reports. The announcement was made by Governor Cathie Hawkl.
The two-mile, 345-kilovolt line will be a key piece of infrastructure for the $100 billion project, the largest private investment in the state's history. Authorities estimate the project will create more than 50,000 jobs over 20 years, including 9,000 directly at Micron.
The approval also covers environmental and construction plans for the first phase, which includes expanding the Clay substation and connecting it to the future megafactory. Production is scheduled to begin by 2030, when Micron aims to produce a quarter of all U.S. microchips.
Paxos mistakenly issued $300 trillion in PayPal steiblcoins
PayPal's blockchain partner Paxos accidentally created $300 trillion in PYUSD stablecoins due to a "technical error," CNBC reports. The huge issue was spotted on the Etherscan platform, after which Paxos quickly identified the problem and burned the excess tokens, emphasizing that "there was no hack, customer funds are safe."
The error occurred during an internal transfer and was resolved in about 20 minutes. PYUSD is positioned as a stablecoin fully backed by dollar reserves, treasury bonds and cash equivalents, guaranteeing a 1:1 exchange rate with the U.S. dollar.
The incident emphasized that the stability of PYUSD is ensured not by the issuance mechanism itself, but by trust in PayPal and external audits, the channel wrote. At the moment, PYUSD remains the sixth largest stablecoin in the world with a market capitalization of over $2.6 billion.
U.S. budget deficit shrinks to $1.78 trillion
The U.S. budget deficit in fiscal year 2025 decreased by $41 billion to $1.775 trillion, down for the first time since 2022, the Treasury Department said, Reuters reports. The reduction came despite a rise in spending to a record $7.01 trillion. The main factor was an increase in customs duties to $195 billion - $118 billion more than a year earlier - thanks to Donald Trump's new duties.
Total budget revenues reached $5.235 trillion, adding 6% year-on-year. In September, which traditionally brings a surplus due to corporate tax payments, the Ministry of Finance recorded a record monthly surplus of $198 billion - 147% more than last year, the agency points out.
The main spending cut was a $233 billion cut to the Department of Education's budget, which partially offset increases in spending on Social Security, the Medicare and Medicaid programs, and debt service. The latter reached $1.216 trillion, the second-largest spending item after Social Security payments.
What's in the markets
- Japan's broad Topix index fell 1.1 percent, while the Nikkei 225 fell 1.4 percent.
- In South Korea, the Kospi index rose 0.3 percent and the Kosdaq fell 0.1 percent.
- Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.8 percent.
- Futures on S&P 500 fell by 0.7%, Nasdaq 100 - by 0.8%. Exchange contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.5%.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor