Crypto Miner Evokes ‘Barbarians at the Gate’ With Huge Junk Deal

Demand for TeraWulf’s bond opens the door for others to fund data center expansions with high-yield debt.

Photographer: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto/Getty Images

TeraWulf Inc.’s $3.2 billion debt deal to expand a data center garnered a comparison to one of the high-yield market’s most acclaimed moments.

That’s because it’s the biggest junk bond sale to be led by one Wall Street institution — in this case, Morgan Stanley — since the acquisition of RJR Nabisco in 1989, the famous leveraged buyout chronicled in the book Barbarians at the Gate.