SoftBank reintroduces its $10 billion loan supported by OpenAI, offering new incentives to lenders.

      SoftBank has returned to lenders with a proposal for a $10 billion loan secured by its stake in OpenAI and is now willing to personally guarantee the debt, according to Reuters, which cited sources familiar with the discussions. This guarantee allows banks to hold SoftBank accountable if the pledged OpenAI shares fail to cover the loan, addressing the main concern that derailed a previous version of the agreement.

      These renewed negotiations represent the third iteration of a financing arrangement that has seen various phases of reduction, stagnation, and now taking shape. Initially, SoftBank proposed a $10 billion margin loan in the spring, which was later revised down to about $6 billion in May after several creditors expressed hesitance about pricing the debt against an unlisted, hard-to-value asset.

      Even that smaller proposal encountered issues before discussions were completely halted. The lending group expected to be involved includes Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Mizuho Financial Group, the same institutions that have supported SoftBank’s broader financing efforts related to OpenAI.

      Earlier discussions also featured Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp and MUFG Bank, according to previous reports. None of the banks have publicly commented on the revived negotiations.

      The shift in perspective appears to stem more from timing than from valuation. OpenAI confidentially submitted a draft S-1 to the SEC on June 8, paving the way for a public listing that would ultimately provide lenders with a market price for valuation, rather than a private estimate made in March.

      Although this filing doesn’t resolve the immediate issue—since OpenAI has stated that going public “may be a while”—it alters the parameters of the bet that creditors are being asked to make. SoftBank's stake in OpenAI has grown large enough that the loan extends beyond its own financial statements.

      The group has invested over $60 billion in OpenAI and related AI infrastructure, which includes its share of the Stargate data center venture with OpenAI and Oracle, based on a post-money valuation of $852 billion from OpenAI’s record funding round in March.

      Additionally, there’s a pressing timeline: SoftBank must repay or refinance a $40 billion unsecured bridge facility signed in March to finance its OpenAI investment by late March 2027. This facility was backed by the same group of banks and has attracted eight sub-underwriters, including HSBC, BNP Paribas, and Intesa Sanpaolo.

      A margin loan secured by the OpenAI stake would provide SoftBank with an additional tool to manage its repayment without having to reduce its holdings directly.

      The situation intensified last week when reports suggested that OpenAI might be inclined to delay its IPO until 2027, rather than this year, leading to a loss of about $38 billion in SoftBank’s market value in just one trading day, as a postponed listing delays liquidity for the asset that supports both the bridge loan and the proposed margin facility.

      Throughout this, the purpose of the loan remains clear: SoftBank aims to leverage its paper wealth without realizing it, which is straightforward when the asset is liquid but becomes significantly more complex when it involves shares of a single private company, regardless of that company’s size.

      The corporate guarantee redirects some of that complexity back onto SoftBank’s creditworthiness instead of solely depending on the collateral, which seems to be the intention.

      Whether the $10 billion proposal will be finalized this time or shrink again like the $6 billion version depends on how the banks interpret two fluctuating factors: the outcome of OpenAI’s IPO timeline and the level of security provided by a parental guarantee when the guarantor's share price is closely tied to the same underlying investment.