SoftBank Group announced Monday that it raised $11.1 billion in dollar- and euro-denominated bonds in the largest high-yield corporate bond sale on record globally as the tech investment conglomerate seeks to fund its mammoth bet on OpenAI.
Under Masayoshi Son’s leadership, SoftBank has committed $64.6 billion to the ChatGPT maker and will own roughly 13% by next week.
The record funding comes after a ¥1 trillion ($6.3 billion) bond issuance aimed at retail investors earlier this month.
Industry experts say following the deal, the company is likely to invite further scrutiny of its finances, which could become vulnerable if sentiment toward OpenAI and the artificial intelligence sector deteriorates significantly.
SoftBank also announced it is acquiring ABB’s robotics business for $5.4 billion and DigitalBridge for $3.1 billion.
The deal is the latest indication that AI investments have driven a surge in corporate borrowing this year, adding to major bond sales from large tech firms such as Amazon and Alphabet.
So far in 2026, SoftBank has issued $14.6 billion in high-yield bonds, accounting for 63.4% of the Asia Pacific and Japan high-yield corporate bond market.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
