SoftBank Group has launched more than $11 billion of high-yield bonds after attracting over $20 billion in preliminary investor interest before formal pricing. The offering comprises $10 billion of dollar-denominated senior unsecured notes and €1 billion, approximately $1.1 billion, of euro-denominated notes across five tranches. The dollar maturities are 3.5, 5.5 and 7.5 years, while the euro maturities are four and six years. Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase are joint bookrunners, with pricing scheduled for September 24 and settlement on September 29. The longest dollar tranche has carried an indicative yield approaching 10%, reflecting the cost of financing SoftBank's artificial intelligence ambitions. Proceeds will fund a $10 billion third installment of SoftBank's committed investment in OpenAI, due October 1, support additional acquisitions in the artificial intelligence sector and cover general corporate purposes. SoftBank's total committed OpenAI investment now approaches $65 billion, representing roughly a 13% stake. The bonds will replace a $10 billion bridge loan previously arranged for the same purpose. SoftBank has also repaid $25.9 billion outstanding on a $40 billion bridge facility announced in March, of which $30 billion was drawn, ahead of schedule on September 9. The deal could challenge Numericable's approximately $10.9 billion record for a single global junk bond issue set in 2014. SoftBank's financing costs have risen as its 2031 dollar bond yield reached 8.2% this month, compared with approximately 6.7% in January, while credit default swaps reached three-year highs. S&P and Fitch rate SoftBank BB+, the top tier of speculative grade. Fitch says liquidity covers at least two years of bond repayments, while SoftBank's loan-to-value ratio was approximately 20% at end-June, below its 25% policy ceiling. OpenAI projects cumulative negative free cash flow of $278 billion from 2026 through the end of 2030, even as revenue is forecast to increase from $36 billion this year to $350 billion by 2030. SoftBank has expanded other financing channels, including a $25 billion margin loan secured by its Arm Holdings stake, a $6.5 billion credit line, a potential increase in Apollo Global Management's loan to $9 billion, and an $11.87 billion loan earmarked for the OpenAI investment. It has also sold its entire Nvidia stake and most of its T-Mobile holdings. Its U.S. subsidiary SB Energy is building 8.8 gigawatts of data-center capacity estimated to require $174 billion in capital. SoftBank has issued nearly $15 billion of bonds across currencies this year, making it the largest junk-grade borrower globally since the start of 2026, according to Bloomberg-compiled data. AI-related companies raised $36 billion in high-yield bond proceeds for buildout through the end of July, compared with $17 billion during all of 2025; such issuance represented 24% of second-quarter junk bond issuance, up from 6% a year earlier. SoftBank said the offering remains fixed at $10 billion plus €1 billion and that reports of an increase are speculative. Its Japanese retail bonds issued September 4 carried a record 4.75% coupon, about 350 basis points below the level offshore institutional investors currently demand. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said the company will not go public this year, limiting SoftBank's ability to obtain liquidity through a public-market exit and increasing the importance of bond financing to maintain its investment exposure.