SoftBank loads up on debt to deepen its OpenAI bet

SoftBank Group has locked in a record 40 billion dollar unsecured bridge loan, giving Masayoshi Son fresh firepower to pour another 30 billion dollars into OpenAI and cover broader corporate needs over the next year. The facility runs for roughly 12 months and pushes the conglomerate’s leverage higher just as it tries to position itself at the center of the global AI race.

The loan is being underwritten by a syndicate of global banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and MUFG Bank, with SoftBank signaling that part of the repayment will come from future asset sales. For investors, tohle je učebnicový příklad toho, jak moc je skupina ochotná riskovat bilanci ve jménu expozice na jeden z nejžhavějších AI příběhů současnosti.

Total investment in OpenAI will reach $64.6 billion

Upon completion of the follow-on investment, SoftBank $SFTBY s total investment in OpenAI is expected to reach $64.6 billion, representing approximately 13% ownership stake, according to SoftBank's official statement.

SoftBank has invested a total of $34.6 billion in OpenAI through SoftBank Vision Fund 2 as of September 2024. Financing for the follow-on investment will initially be provided through bridge loans and other financing arrangements from major financial institutions and then replaced over time by leveraging existing assets.

OpenAI completes historic $120 billion funding round

In February of this year, OpenAI raised $110 billion in a deal that valued the company at $730 billion, representing the largest round of funding for a startup to date, according to a Bloomberg report.

OpenAI is raising another $10 billion from investors as part of the historic funding round, bringing the total raised to over $120 billion, as confirmed by the company's CFO, according to a CNBC report. Amazon $AMZN invested $50 billion, Nvidia $NVDA invested $30 billion, and SoftBank invested $30 billion in this round, with the investment boosting OpenAI's valuation to $730 billion before the funding was completed.

Masayoshi Son exceeds own debt limits for AI bet

SoftBank has its own debt ceiling of 25% - the maximum ratio of net debt to portfolio value it can afford under normal conditions. SoftBank's CFO Yoshimitsu Goto has publicly acknowledged that the ratio, which has already risen from 16.5% to 20.6% in recent months, is likely to temporarily exceed that limit due to AI commitments, according to a FinTech Weekly analysis.

S&P lowered SoftBank's credit rating outlook to negative from stable while maintaining its long-term credit rating at BB+ - below investment grade. S&P concluded that OpenAI is among SoftBank's investments with the "weakest" credit quality, according to a report by European Business Magazine.

Son's response is basically: the rules were written for normal times, and these are not normal times. SoftBank and OpenAI were among the companies behind last year's Stargate Project, which aims to invest up to $500 billion over four years to build AI infrastructure in the United States. Son and then-President-elect Donald Trump announced in December 2024 that SoftBank planned to invest $100 billion in AI and related infrastructure in the U.S. over four years.

SoftBank's investment strategy represents one of the most aggressive bets on AI in the current tech boom era. It confirms the company's position as a key player in the global race for AI dominance, even as it faces growing criticism over its debt levels and investment concentration.