SoftBank shares jump over 7% after $11.1 billion bond issuance to fund OpenAI bet

Shares of SoftBank Group jumped more than 7% on Thursday, as Japanese markets opened for the first time this week following a three-day holiday and the technology investor announced an $11.1 billion bond issuance to help fund its growing bet on OpenAI.

SoftBank said Thursday it issued $10 billion in dollar-denominated senior notes and 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) in euro-denominated notes. The company said proceeds will be used to fund a $10 billion payment for the third and final tranche of its $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, which is expected to close Oct. 1, as well as for general corporate purposes.

Shares of SoftBank Group on Thursday.

The bond sale underscores the scale of CEO Masayoshi Son's push into artificial intelligence. SoftBank agreed to the $30 billion investment in February, which will bring its cumulative investment in the ChatGPT maker to $64.6 billion and give it an approximately 13% stake upon completion.

The latest fundraising comes as investors have increasingly scrutinized how SoftBank will finance its sprawling AI ambitions and the impact of rising leverage on its balance sheet.