SoftBank CEO Masa Son has borrowed $10 billion from global lenders using his OpenAI stake as collateral, according to an earnings disclosure.
Notably, much of that OpenAI stake itself was acquired using a $10 billion loan the company took in July from many of the same lenders.
The strategy mirrors Son's approach during the 2010s venture boom, when he leveraged SoftBank's holdings in profitable companies like Alibaba and Yahoo to fund new bets — but this time the collateral is an AI investment rather than an established profitable business.
What happened
SoftBank disclosed it borrowed $10 billion from global lenders, using its stake in OpenAI as collateral. The company also borrowed $10 billion in July to fund that OpenAI investment, meaning much of the collateral itself was acquired with borrowed money.
Why it matters
CEO Masa Son is repeating the financial strategy that made SoftBank a venture powerhouse in the 2010s — using borrowed money and collateral to fund aggressive bets. This time the wager is on AI rather than established profitable businesses like Alibaba or Yahoo, which means the risk profile is materially different.
What to watch
SoftBank's ability to service these loans depends on the OpenAI stake holding or appreciating in value. If the AI investment underperforms, the company could face pressure to liquidate or refinance.
SoftBank announced in its latest earnings report that it had secured a $10 billion loan from a group of global lenders, with its OpenAI stake serving as collateral. However, company filings reveal that much of this collateral was itself financed with borrowed money: SoftBank borrowed $10 billion in July 2024 to fund its most recent investment in OpenAI. This means the same group of global lenders has provided capital for both the OpenAI purchase and the subsequent loan backed by that purchase. The arrangement reflects the financial engineering approach that defined Masa Son's strategy during the 2010s venture boom. During that era, Son borrowed against SoftBank's holdings in Alibaba and Yahoo to free up cash for new investments and acquisitions, transforming the Japanese telecom company into a venture capital giant. The playbook relied on the assumption that collateral assets would hold or appreciate in value, allowing SoftBank to service its debts. The key difference this time is the nature of the collateral: where Son previously leveraged profitable, cash-generating businesses, OpenAI is an AI lab. This shift reflects the intensity of Son's conviction in AI's near-term potential, but it also concentrates SoftBank's leverage on a single technology bet whose long-term profitability profile remains unproven at the scale required to support the debt load.
Masa Son's dual-loan structure reveals a high-leverage approach to AI exposure. By borrowing $10 billion in July to acquire the OpenAI stake and then immediately using that stake as collateral for another $10 billion loan from many of the same lenders, SoftBank has effectively borrowed against an asset it just acquired with borrowed capital. This layered leverage amplifies both the upside and downside of the AI bet. The strategy echoes Son's venture playbook from the 2010s, when he used borrowed money and existing holdings to fund aggressive expansion — but the earlier bets were collateralized by Alibaba and Yahoo, businesses with established revenue and profitability. OpenAI, by contrast, is an AI lab without the proven cash flow of those earlier collateral assets. The structure suggests Son is betting heavily that the OpenAI stake will appreciate enough to justify the cumulative debt burden.
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