SoftBank Group signed an agreement to invest up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a $260 billion pre-money valuation, with up to $10 billion to be syndicated to other investors. A first $10 billion closing was set for April 2025, funded partly by bank loans led by Mizuho, and the second closing depended on OpenAI restructuring into a for-profit company by year-end. The funding was in convertible interests that convert into preferred stock of the new entity. How SoftBank paid for it SoftBank took out an $8.5 billion bridge loan for the first closing in April 2025. To fund the larger second closing, it sold assets: in October 2025 it sold its entire Nvidia holding of 32.1 million shares for $5.83 billion, and it raised $9.17 billion by selling part of its T-Mobile US stake. It also issued about ¥620 billion of yen bonds and about $4.2 billion of foreign-currency debt. Its CFO said the size of the OpenAI commitment meant existing assets had to be used to finance it. The restructuring condition OpenAI completed its recapitalization on October 28, 2025, meeting the condition for the larger second closing. The nonprofit, renamed the OpenAI Foundation, controls a public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group and holds about 26% of it, plus a warrant for more shares if the company keeps growing. Microsoft holds about 27%, valued at roughly $135 billion at the time, and other investors and employees hold the remaining 47%. SoftBank then funded $22.5 billion on December 26, 2025. The follow-on investment SoftBank agreed in February 2026 to invest a further $30 billion in OpenAI, bringing its cumulative investment to $64.6 billion and its stake to about 13% once paid in October 2026. That follow-on and its financing are covered in a separate entry.
