SoftBank launches $11B junk bond offering to fund OpenAI investment
In brief
- SoftBank issues $11 billion in high-yield bonds to fund OpenAI investment commitments
- Bond offering includes $10 billion USD notes and €1 billion euro notes, pricing September 24
- SoftBank's total OpenAI commitment reaches $65 billion for targeted 13% stake at $730 billion valuation
The bond structure
The deal includes $10 billion in US dollar-denominated bonds spread across three maturities, plus €1 billion in euro-denominated notes across two maturities. Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley are running the books. The issuance is expected to price around September 24, 2026.
SoftBank carries a BB+ credit rating, sitting one notch below investment grade—a fact that makes the scale of this offering notable. Investors in junk bonds accept higher risk in exchange for higher yields. For SoftBank, the trade-off reflects confidence in its ability to service the debt while building its OpenAI position.
The OpenAI bet
SoftBank's total commitment to OpenAI is approaching $65 billion, in exchange for a targeted 13% stake in the company. That math implies a pre-money valuation of $730 billion for OpenAI, a number that would make it one of the most valuable private companies ever.
The financing effort has been relentless. On September 15, 2026, SoftBank repaid $25.9 billion of a $40 billion bridge loan it had taken out to fund the OpenAI position. The company also recently closed an $11.87 billion loan from roughly 20 banks, providing additional runway. SoftBank has raised approximately $37 billion year-to-date through a combination of loans and bond sales.
That's a staggering sum. The $37 billion raised through bonds and loans this year alone rivals the entire venture capital budgets of most large institutional investors.
The vision and the risk
SoftBank's chairman Masayoshi Son has been public about his belief that artificial general intelligence represents the most important technological shift of his lifetime. That conviction is driving this capital-raising blitz. But history offers a cautionary note: SoftBank's Vision Fund era left the company badly exposed when tech valuations collapsed in 2022.
This OpenAI bet is different in scope and speed. Whether it pays off depends largely on OpenAI's ability to deliver returns that justify a $730 billion valuation—and on SoftBank's ability to service nearly $65 billion in commitments without stumbling into another valuation cliff.
