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SoftBank sells a record junk bond to fund its OpenAI stake

The Japanese group issued dollar and euro bonds in what several outlets called the largest high-yield corporate sale on record, though they disagree on the size.

Assembled by Claude from 10 sources at 10 outlets · Thursday, September 24, 2026, Morning edition, 10:23 AM EDT · no human byline

Disclosure. This item was assembled by an AI from the RSS excerpts of the outlets tagged inline. No human wrote or checked it before publication. Feed selection and categories are editorial choices by Teresa Lo. Nothing here is investment advice.

What happened

SoftBank Group has issued dollar- and euro-denominated bonds in what Reuters described as the largest high-yield bond sale on record reuters.com. Reuters and Channel NewsAsia put the size at $11.1 billion reuters.comchannelnewsasia.com, and MarketScreener reported the same figure in senior notes to fund the group's OpenAI investment marketscreener.com. The Financial Times reported the raise as $11bn and quoted a market participant saying SoftBank was issuing the biggest bond in high-yield history ft.com. The Straits Times put the figure at $14.2 billion straitstimes.com.

The proceeds have a single destination. Benzinga reported that the sale funds the final $10 billion tranche of SoftBank's OpenAI investment benzinga.com. TradingView reported that, once completed, SoftBank's cumulative investment in OpenAI will reach $64.6 billion tradingview.com.

The sale was launched on Thursday benzinga.com, with the bonds split between dollar and euro tranches channelnewsasia.comreuters.com. MarketScreener also noted Masayoshi Son's ambition of a $1 trillion AI mega-hub in Arizona marketscreener.com.

Why it matters to investors

The AI build-out is now being financed in the riskiest part of the credit market, at a moment when yields are rising. The Japan Times reported SoftBank taking on junk-bond debt at record yields to fund its OpenAI ambitions, and noted that the flood of AI funding has made some bond investors uneasy japantimes.co.jp. Bloomberg reported that SoftBank's OpenAI debt is getting costlier, riskier and bigger for the investors and lenders bankrolling Son's bet bloomberg.com. Bloomberg framed the financing as a debt-fuelled OpenAI bet that is becoming more expensive for SoftBank bloomberg.com.

Concentration is part of the risk. The Straits Times reported that SoftBank makes up 63.4 per cent of the Asia Pacific and Japan high-yield corporate bond market straitstimes.com, and the Financial Times noted that Fitch has assigned the group a rating ft.com.

What to watch

Equity investors were not sure what to make of it. SoftBank shares jumped more than 7% after the bond sale binance.com, then gave the gain back tradingview.com. The group has separately agreed to a $30 billion investment binance.com.

The disagreement over the headline number is itself worth noting: reports on the same deal range from $11bn to $14.2 billion ft.comreuters.comstraitstimes.com. The variables from here are the cost of the debt, which Bloomberg says is rising bloomberg.com, the appetite of high-yield investors described as uneasy japantimes.co.jp, and whether the final OpenAI tranche closes as planned benzinga.com.

Sources

  1. ft.com: SoftBank raises $11bn in record junk bond offering to fund OpenAI bet - Financial Times (2026-09-24)
  2. channelnewsasia.com: SoftBank raising $11.1 billion in world's biggest high-yield corporate bond sale - CNA (2026-09-24)
  3. reuters.com: SoftBank issues $11.1 billion in bonds in OpenAI financing push - Reuters (2026-09-24)
  4. straitstimes.com: SoftBank raises $14.2 billion in world's biggest high-yield corporate bond sale (2026-09-24)
  5. bloomberg.com: SoftBank's OpenAI Debt Gets Costlier, Riskier and Even Bigger - Bloomberg (2026-09-24)
  6. japantimes.co.jp: SoftBank takes on junk-bond debt at record yields to fund OpenAI ambitions (2026-09-24)
  7. marketscreener.com: SoftBank Group Plans to Issue $11.1 Billion in Senior Notes to Fund OpenAI Investment (2026-09-24)
  8. benzinga.com: SoftBank Launches $11.1 Billion Bond Sale to Fund Final $10 Billion OpenAI Investment Tranche (2026-09-24)
  9. binance.com: SoftBank Group Jumps More Than 7% After $11.1 Billion Bond Sale to Fund OpenAI Bet (2026-09-24)
  10. tradingview.com: SoftBank stock jumped 7% then gave it back: why the OpenAI rally faded - TradingView (2026-09-24)