{"id":"71862850898f524d9501e9c99fbdb987229ca5b915da4946440670e39d7128a2","title":"Ed Zitron argues in Where's Your Ed At that SB Energy's IPO rests on circular financing","argument":"Ed Zitron’s piece was published on September 4, 2026. He argues that SB Energy’s planned IPO depends on circular financing: SoftBank-backed SB Energy’s largest customer and an investor in SB Energy is OpenAI, while most of SB Energy’s future revenue depends on data centers that have not been built. Zitron says SB Energy’s $439 billion backlog is heavily weighted toward distant, conditional revenue: 97% is due more than four years in the future, and earning it depends on $178 billion in capital expenditures. He highlights the gap between the scale of the deals and the business already operating: SB Energy’s data center division made $653,000 in the first half of 2026, and the source says 99.4% of capacity under construction is earmarked for OpenAI. 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