SoftBank Group has sought a USD 10 billion margin loan secured by its shareholding in OpenAI as it continues to expand its AI financing commitments.
The move marks another significant step in the Japan-based conglomerate's strategy of leveraging asset-backed borrowing to finance its deepening involvement in the AI sector. A margin loan is a structure in which a borrower pledges equity holdings as collateral to secure debt.
Growing OpenAI exposure drives financing activity
SoftBank has committed a total of more than USD 60 billion to OpenAI following a recent additional pledge of USD 30 billion, building on a prior investment of comparable scale. In March 2026, the group signed a USD 40 billion loan facility, representing its largest-ever dollar-denominated lending arrangement, partly to fund that follow-on investment. Last week, SoftBank raised USD 3.6 billion through a multi-tranche bond offering, a portion of which was earmarked for repaying bridge financing tied to its OpenAI positions. The ten-year dollar tranche in that offering carried a coupon of 8.5%, the highest the group has issued on such a security.
According to Bloomberg, discussions around the current margin loan have included a potential interest margin of approximately 425 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, which would translate to roughly 7.88% based on prevailing SOFR levels. No final decisions have been taken and terms remain subject to change.
The announcement has had a visible effect on SoftBank's credit risk profile. Credit-default swaps on the group's debt rose approximately ten basis points following the news, leaving them at around 360 basis points, approaching a one-year high of 376 basis points reached in late March 2026.
Credit and equity markets diverge
The credit market reaction contrasts with sentiment in equity markets. SoftBank's shares have risen approximately 31.5% in the year to date, compared with an 8.3% gain in the benchmark Topix index, reflecting investor optimism around the group's AI investment thesis.
The margin loan structure is not new to SoftBank. As of November 2025, the group had expanded a similar facility backed by its shares in Arm Holdings to USD 20 billion. The company also holds significant equity positions in T-Mobile US, Intel Corp., and ByteDance Ltd., assets that could be monetised to support its financial position if required.
In March 2026, S&P Global Ratings revised SoftBank's credit outlook to negative from stable, citing concerns that its concentrated exposure to OpenAI could weigh on the group's liquidity and the overall credit quality of its asset portfolio. The rating action reflects the broader tension between SoftBank's aggressive deployment into AI infrastructure and the sustainability of its debt load, a dynamic that creditors appear willing to accommodate provided the cost of capital reflects the risk.
