The Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group, led by Masayoshi Son, has launched an $11 billion bond issuance. SoftBank is raising these funds chiefly to invest in OpenAI. Under the agreement previously reached between SoftBank and OpenAI, the latest investment must be paid on October 1, 2026. Reuters reported that SoftBank Group launched over $10 billion in bonds for the OpenAI investment, as a term sheet showed.
A $10 Billion Payment to OpenAI in October
SoftBank announced in February 2026 that it would make an additional $30 billion investment in OpenAI through its Vision Fund 2. This investment is to be completed in three installments, each worth $10 billion. The first was completed in April and the second in July, with the third to be completed in October.
SoftBank’s chief financial officer said the company has already paid $20 billion for the first two installments, with the remaining $10 billion to be paid in October. SoftBank’s bond issuance now serves precisely to fund this $10 billion investment. The company will additionally issue 1 billion euros in bonds, bringing the total fundraising to more than $11 billion. The dollar notes span 3.5-year, 5.5-year, and 7.5-year maturities, while the euro notes come in 4-year and 6-year tenors, with pricing set for September 24 and settlement for September 29.
Amplifying an AI Bet Through Debt
SoftBank had earlier arranged a $10 billion bridge loan to support its OpenAI investment. The new bonds will cancel that facility. Should the offering close at its intended size, it would rank as the largest non-financial corporate bond deal on record in the Asia-Pacific region and Japan, surpassing 7-Eleven’s $10.93 billion sale of January 2021, and would place among the world’s 20 largest corporate bond deals so far this year.
Upon completing this additional investment, SoftBank’s cumulative investment in OpenAI will reach $64.6 billion, for an ownership stake of roughly 13%. This portion of the investment corresponds to a pre-money valuation of about $730 billion for OpenAI, and the preferred shares obtained will automatically convert to common stock upon OpenAI’s future listing or a similar transaction.
Fitch Ratings assigned the proposed notes a BB+ rating, its highest speculative-grade level, and Citigroup leads the dollar notes while JPMorgan leads the euro notes. As for the earlier bridge facility, SoftBank will repay and refinance it through asset-backed financing, bond issuance, and the sale of certain assets. SoftBank hopes to retain as far as possible its high-growth assets, including OpenAI, to secure future upside.
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