Overview
- Bloomberg reported that SoftBank is seeking a $10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI shares, which are private stock.
- The proposed loan carries a two-year term with an option to extend by one year, and discussions are ongoing with no pricing or lender list disclosed, and SoftBank declined to comment.
- A margin loan lets a borrower take cash against assets it already owns, and using private-company shares as collateral is unusual because valuing and selling them is harder than with public stock.
- The new financing would sit alongside a $40 billion unsecured bridge loan that SoftBank signed in March to fund its OpenAI investment, after which more banks were invited to join the deal.
- SoftBank shares rose 6% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange after the report.