SoftBank Issues $11.1 Billion in Bonds for Final OpenAI Investment Payment

SoftBank has issued about $11.1 billion in bonds to help make the final $10 billion payment on its follow-on OpenAI investment. The borrowing puts cash behind a deal expected to close October 1, while bringing SoftBank’s debt commitments further into focus.

The money raised—and the stake ahead

The sale consists of $10 billion in dollar-denominated senior notes and €1 billion in euro-denominated notes, worth about $1.14 billion. SoftBank said the proceeds will help pay OpenAI and cover general corporate purposes. The full amount is therefore not earmarked for the investment.

The payment is the third and final part of a $30 billion follow-on investment SoftBank agreed to in February. If it closes as expected, SoftBank’s cumulative investment in OpenAI will reach $64.6 billion, giving it an approximately 13% stake. Issuing the bonds supplies financing; the investment itself has yet to close.

New bonds against an earlier loan plan

Before the issuance, the Financial Times reported, through The Decoder, that SoftBank had arranged short-term loans of up to $40 billion for OpenAI and planned to replace them with longer-term debt. How much of that earlier loan capacity the bond sale replaces is unclear. Longer-term borrowing can move repayment further out, but it does not remove the obligation.

That earlier account described the planned bonds as high-yield, or junk, debt. Such bonds pay higher interest because investors face greater risk than they do with safer corporate debt. The description preceded the completed sale, so it should not be read as a confirmed assessment of the notes SoftBank ultimately issued.

OpenAI’s role beyond the shares

SoftBank is also counting on OpenAI contracts for future revenue at its data-center business, The Decoder reported. That makes OpenAI both a major investment and a prospective customer. The Financial Times reported that OpenAI expects to use nearly $280 billion in cash by the end of 2030—a forecast about OpenAI’s spending, not a SoftBank funding commitment.

SoftBank shares rose more than 7% as Japanese markets reopened after a three-day holiday and the company announced the bond sale. That immediate market reaction contrasts with the longer wait to see how the investment and the borrowing perform.