Masayoshi Son-headed SoftBank Group has raised USD 11.1 billion in dollar- and euro-denominated bonds in the largest high-yield corporate bond sale globally on record, as the tech investment conglomerate seeks to fund its mammoth investment bet on OpenAI.
SoftBank has become the latest player to enter the arena called “surging corporate borrowing.”
Big Tech players like Amazon and Alphabet have already indulged in major bond sales.
SoftBank’s latest funding follows a one trillion yen (USD 6.3 billion) bond issue aimed at retail investors in September and is likely to prompt further scrutiny of the Japanese conglomerate’s finances, which could become vulnerable if market sentiment towards OpenAI and the AI sector weakens significantly amid ongoing chatter about the technology’s safety.
Under the leadership of Son, known for his bold bets and now keen to make the Japanese firm the dominant AI investor, SoftBank has committed USD 64.6 billion to the ChatGPT-maker, of which it will own roughly 13% in the coming days.
The Japanese conglomerate will also be acquiring ABB’s robotics business for USD 5.4 billion and DigitalBridge for USD 3.1 billion.
DigitalBridge is a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in next-generation digital infrastructure and generative AI.
The value of bond sales from hyperscalers has more than doubled in 2026 to over USD 200 billion, as per the LSEG data.
However, the sheer scale of that borrowing has been one of the factors putting pressure on global borrowing costs, which have surged in recent weeks, as the competition for capital heats up.
SoftBank issued dollar-denominated senior notes of USD 1 billion at a 3-1/2-year term, USD 4.5 billion at 5-1/2 years, and USD 4.5 billion at 7-1/2 years, a filing showed.
The bonds pay interest rates of 8.625%, 9.25%, and 9.75%, respectively.
The Japanese conglomerate also issued two 500 million euro tranches of euro-denominated senior notes with terms of four and six years, yielding 7.125% and 8%.
By comparison, a USD 7.3 billion SoftBank issuance in June 2021 of senior dollar- and euro-denominated bonds yielded between 2.125% and 5.25%.
As per the LSEG data, SoftBank’s sale marks the largest high-yield corporate bond issuance globally to date, surpassing French telecoms firm Numericable Group’s USD 10.9 billion issuance in 2014.
The Japanese conglomerate has issued USD 14.6 billion in high-yield bonds so far in 2026, making up 63.4% of the Asia Pacific and Japan high-yield corporate bond market.
It has also sold off assets and taken out loans backed by its holdings in chip designer Arm and OpenAI to fund its commitments.