A massive debt wall is about to hit Corporate America, and equity values will be 'incinerated,' Chamath Palihapitiya says

• A massive debt wall is about to hit Corporate America, Chamath Palihapitiya tweeted.
• That's as hundreds of billions worth of debt issued during the pandemic is about to mature.
• "Expect a bunch of articles about potential corporate bankruptcies starting this fall," he wrote.

Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of VC company Social Capital, has warned about a looming crisis in equity markets due to the issuance of low-interest debt. According to Palihapitiya, this might be the “biggest business secret hiding in plain sight right now,” as many companies won’t be able to refinance their debt, seeing their equity values collapse.

Chamath Palihapitiya, CEO of VC company Social Capital, has warned about a crisis in equity markets that could develop as soon as 2024. Palihapitiya, whose net worth reaches $1 billion, states that corporate America might be close to experiencing difficulties due to the issuance of debt at very low-interest rates.

"It turns out that companies issued a ton of short-term debt during the pandemic at close to 0% interest rates. Hundreds of billions of dollars will come due starting Jan-2024 and will need to be refinanced at much higher rates."

The investor, who qualifies this situation as the “biggest business secret hiding in plain sight right now,” estimates that the debt wall of obligations to be fulfilled next year will put a “lot of pressure” on several companies.

In fact, high-yield bond sales peaked in October 2021 at over $432 billion, according to Bloomberg. US junk bonds now hold the shortest average time to maturity on record as investors pursued quicker due dates out of fear of a coming recession, the report said. 

"Prepare for a bunch of companies who will not be able to refinance their debt and will thus see their equity value incinerated," Palihapitiya wrote. "This will hit the private equity industry very acutely, whose core playbook involves wrapping their companies in gobs of high yield debt."