SoftBank raises $11.1B through massive bond sale to fund OpenAI investment

SoftBank just pulled off one of the largest bond sales ever from an Asia-Pacific non-financial corporate, raising $11.1 billion to keep feeding its insatiable appetite for artificial intelligence. The proceeds are headed straight toward the company’s final $10 billion installment in a $30 billion investment in OpenAI, a deal expected to close on October 1. When Masayoshi Son bets on something, he doesn’t do it quietly. And this time, the market seems to agree with him: SoftBank’s stock surged more than 7% following the announcement. Breaking down the bond sale The $11.1 billion haul is split across two currencies. The lion’s share, $10 billion, came from US dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes spread across three different maturities. The remaining roughly $1.14 billion came from approximately one billion euros in euro-denominated notes. This latest raise brings SoftBank’s year-to-date capital raising total to roughly $37 billion through bonds and loans, all funneled toward AI investments and repayment of bridge financing. The OpenAI obsession Once this final tranche lands, SoftBank’s cumulative investment in OpenAI will balloon to approximately $64.6 billion. That buys the Ja...