SoftBank Group is issuing $11.1 billion in dollar- and euro-denominated bonds in what is set to become the largest high-yield corporate bond sale on record, as Masayoshi Son's Japanese conglomerate scrambles to finance its enormous wager on OpenAI.
According to Reuters, the sale surpasses the previous record of $10.9 billion set by French telecom firm Numericable Group in 2014, based on LSEG data. The issuance follows a separate 1 trillion yen ($6.3 billion) bond sale aimed at retail investors earlier this month, and is likely to prompt further scrutiny of SoftBank's finances, which analysts warn could become vulnerable should market sentiment toward OpenAI or the broader AI sector deteriorate. For anyone tracking the financing machinery behind the latest AI developments, the deal is a stark measure of just how capital-hungry the frontier AI race has become.
The Numbers Behind the Deal
The structure of the offering, laid out in a filing, shows investors demanding historically rich yields for the privilege of lending to SoftBank:
- $1 billion in senior notes at a 3.5-year term, paying 8.625%
- $4.5 billion at 5.5 years, paying 9.25%
- $4.5 billion at 7.5 years, paying 9.75%
- Two €500 million euro-denominated tranches at four and six years, yielding 7.125% and 8% respectively
The contrast with even recent history is striking. A $7.3 billion SoftBank issuance in June 2021 carried yields between 2.125% and 5.25% — meaning the company is now paying roughly three to four times more to borrow the same money. Proceeds of the new sale will also retire a $10 billion bridge loan facility that SoftBank had earlier secured to fund its OpenAI investment, replacing short-term financing with long-dated bonds.
A $64.6 Billion Commitment and Growing
The bond sale is the latest move in Son's campaign to make SoftBank the dominant private investor in artificial intelligence. The company has now committed $64.6 billion to OpenAI, and will hold roughly 13% of the ChatGPT maker by next week, according to Reuters. Beyond OpenAI, SoftBank is acquiring ABB's robotics business for $5.4 billion and investment firm DigitalBridge for $3.1 billion, extending its reach across physical AI and AI infrastructure assets.
The borrowing spree has made SoftBank the single largest force in the Asian high-yield market. The company has issued $14.6 billion in high-yield bonds so far in 2026, representing 63.4% of the entire Asia-Pacific and Japan high-yield corporate bond market, per LSEG data. It has also sold assets and taken out loans backed by its stakes in chip designer Arm and OpenAI itself to meet its commitments.
'AI-Driven Debt Issuance Has Reached the High-Yield Market at Scale'
Market appetite for the deal has surprised even seasoned credit analysts. "I was positively surprised by the market appetite," said Satoru Aoyama, senior director at Fitch Ratings, in comments to Reuters. "Hyperscalers in the US have been raising debt but they have high credit ratings. Now AI-driven debt issuance has reached the high-yield market at scale."
That observation cuts to the heart of what makes the deal notable. America's big technology companies have funded their AI buildouts largely from enormous operating cash flows and investment-grade balance sheets. SoftBank, a long-time junk-bond issuer with a more volatile earnings profile, is financing its AI ambitions through the riskiest corner of the credit market — and investors are letting it, at a price.
The Risks Piling Up
The deal does not eliminate SoftBank's funding challenges; it defers them. The company's hopes for a swift cash influx through public listings were dented in recent weeks when both OpenAI and data center development subsidiary SB Energy delayed IPO plans that had been expected to unlock billions in value. Credit default swap prices — the cost of insuring SoftBank's debt against default — have jumped as investors weigh the company's leveraged position.
The core vulnerability is circular: SoftBank's borrowing costs and its collateral values both depend on continued enthusiasm for OpenAI, a private company that itself spends billions more than it earns. If sentiment toward AI weakens significantly, Reuters noted, SoftBank's finances could become vulnerable — a scenario in which the value of its OpenAI stake and its ability to refinance its debts would come under pressure simultaneously.
For now, though, the market's verdict is favorable. A successful sale would crown SoftBank's year of record borrowing and give Son the war chest to keep writing checks into what he has described as the ascendancy phase of artificial superintelligence. The question investors will be asking once the orders are booked is not whether SoftBank can raise the money — it plainly can — but what happens to an AI investment thesis levered nine ways to Sunday if the cycle turns.
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