SoftBank's record-yield junk bonds draw more than $30 billion of orders

At the price talk, the three dollar tranches blend to a yield of about 9.48% at the tight end of each range and 9.61% at the wide end ^[1]. If coupons land near those yields, the $10 billion costs SoftBank roughly $950 million to $960 million of interest a year, before the euro notes are counted ^[2]. Buyers want a full percentage point more to lend for 7.5 years than for 3.5 years, 9.75% against 8.75% at the bottom of each range ^[4]. SoftBank put $9 billion of the $10 billion in the two longer maturities ^[9].

Bloomberg measures the records against SoftBank's own past dollar bonds ^[5]. Neither report includes a spread over government bonds or a comparison with other AI borrowers. So the sources cannot say whether the record reflects SoftBank's credit, a charge for AI risk, or the general level of rates.

A record yield on a dollar book covered three times over ^[3] can still resolve in more than one way. The talk may have been set wide to fill the book, with final prices coming in tighter. Nikkei's Thursday report of yields up to 9.75% ^[10] matches the bottom of the 7.5-year range Bloomberg reported on Wednesday ^[7]. Or buyers may be charging a real premium for lending into AI, with the talk set just high enough to clear it. Bloomberg noted the figures could change before the deal prices ^[12].

I think the evidence supports a narrower claim than an AI premium. SoftBank is paying more than it ever has at these maturities ^[5]. At that price, orders for the dollar notes run at triple the amount on offer ^[3]. Nikkei's framing is the counter-case: it describes yields high enough to attract investors while caution about AI-linked junk debt grows and gives some of them pause ^[11].

Scale matters here too. The sale covers about 17% of the nearly $65 billion SoftBank has committed to OpenAI ^[5], and it follows a run of debt deals this year to fund those commitments and more acquisitions in the sector ^[3]. Goldman Sachs credit strategists count more than $575 billion of AI-related debt issued in 2026 ^[8]. Measured against that, one of the largest corporate junk sales ever ^[1] comes to about 1.9% ^[6].

Masayoshi Son has played down concerns about AI infrastructure spending, and he expects AI-related industries to account for 20% of global output, or $46 trillion, by 2040 ^[9]. The longest dollar notes come due around 2034, about six years before that date ^[10]. The narrower reading is wrong if SoftBank's next trip to the debt market for the rest of the OpenAI money ^[3] draws orders close to the deal's size at these yields or higher.