SoftBank hits $64 bn retail bond mark to drive Masayoshi Son's AI vision

SoftBank is close to raising $64 billion through retail bonds, giving Masayoshi Son more funds for major AI projects, including its role in the $500 billion Stargate initiative

SoftBank Group is close to reaching 10 trillion yen (about $64 billion) in total bond sales to retail investors, strengthening its lead in Japan’s consumer bond market. The funding pipeline is also helping Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son support his plans in artificial intelligence.

 

On Wednesday, the company announced the terms for a new 500 billion yen, seven-year retail bond, which will bring SoftBank’s cumulative bond issuances to 9.9 trillion yen. The group has already repaid 4.99 trillion yen, leaving nearly 5 trillion yen still outstanding, Nikkei Asia reported.

 

The latest bond carries a 3.98 per cent coupon, higher than the 3.15 per cent rate offered in a similar seven-year sale last November.

Demand surges despite higher rates

 

Chief Financial Officer Yoshimitsu Goto said rising interest rates were unavoidable but demand remained strong. "The base rate going up can't be helped," he told Nikkei Asia. "Sales are strong, to the point where there are brokerages that are completely sold out before we set the terms."

 

SoftBank plans to channel the proceeds into its expanding AI portfolio. Son aims to position the company as the world’s largest platform provider for artificial superintelligence. 

AI investments expand across markets

 

SoftBank is a key participant in the $500 billion US-based Stargate AI infrastructure project and has increased its exposure to OpenAI. In October, the group announced plans to buy the robotics business of Switzerland’s ABB for around 800 billion yen, supporting Son’s push into what he calls “physical AI".

 

So far, SoftBank’s investments for the financial year ending March have reached $40 billion, a sevenfold increase from the previous year. 

SoftBank dominates Japan’s retail bond market

 

As of May, Japan had 10.7 trillion yen in outstanding retail bonds. SoftBank alone accounted for 42 per cent, ahead of banks at 32 per cent, with the remaining 26 per cent issued by other non-financial companies.

 

CFO Goto said that SoftBank’s retail bonds still represent only a small portion of Japan's overall financial assets. Bank of Japan data shows household assets reached 2.24 quadrillion yen by the end of June, with cash and deposits making up about 1.13 quadrillion yen.

SoftBank sells entire Nvidia stake

 

SoftBank has sold its entire stake in US chipmaker Nvidia Corp. for about $5.83 billion, Bloomberg reported. The company confirmed the sale during its Q2 FY26 earnings call, where it posted stronger-than-expected results.

 

Earlier, SoftBank had increased its Nvidia holdings to around $3 billion, representing 32.1 million shares, by the end of March. The sale contributed to the company’s net profit for the quarter rising to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.2 billion).

 

SoftBank’s Vision Fund also boosted earnings, mainly due to gains from its investment in OpenAI, which added 2.16 trillion yen to results.

 

SoftBank’s ties with Nvidia date back to 2017, when its Vision Fund invested about $4 billion in the chipmaker. It exited fully in January 2019, only to return with a fresh stake earlier this year.

 

Despite selling the shares again, SoftBank remains connected to Nvidia through its AI ventures, including the massive $500 billion Stargate data centre project in the US, according to CNBC.