Meta is throwing $14.3 billion at Scale AI for a 49% stake in the startup, in what appears to be a wildly creative approach to not acquiring a company.

The deal values Scale at over $29 billion and showers shareholders and employees with massive liquidity through dividends, not a share buyout.

Scale’s CEO Alexandr Wang, who ditched MIT at 19 to build his AI data empire, will join Meta in what must surely be an unexpected plot twist in his dropout success story.

Early backer Accel is reportedly pocketing $2.5 billion from this circus of a transaction, as Meta somehow manages to hand over billions without a proper acquisition.

The company, last valued at $14 billion, seems to be selling itself piece by piece through this inventive dividend scheme, with regulators no doubt thrilled to unpack this one.