No, not pocket change. It was an expression. Bezos, alone, might need a loan to buy them :) https://people.com/human-interest/jeff-bezos-net-worth-141-b... . Apple has (or had) more at hand than $200B. But then you have to assume At&t debts and liabilities too.
Read the article. It says very clearly that AT&T has got "good" lawyers performing this schtick for years; some of them "write the laws" i.e. regulatory capture.
