By Jules Rimmer
SoftBank's creditors appear reluctant to lend against its holdings in OpenAI.
SoftBank group Chairman and CEO Japanese Masayoshi Son
After an emphatically bullish start to 2026, Japan's largest stock by market capitalization until last week has suddenly reversed course.
SoftBank shares have declined by more than a fifth in the last five trading sessions as speculation about its difficulty in raising a loan coincides with some stuttering in the overall narrative forAI-related technology stocks.
Tuesday alone, SoftBank (JP:9984) plummeted more than 11% at one stage in Tokyo, before recovering slightly to close down 8.3%. The fall appeared to be triggered by a Bloomberg report that SoftBank was running into problems trying to raise a $10 billion loan, collateralized by its 13% stake in OpenAI. SoftBank didn't respond to a request for comment.
Given OpenAI's most recent funding round in March valued the company at $852 billion, SoftBank's stake has been estimated around $110 billion.
Part of the problem may derive from concerns about the listing of OpenAI. The company has filed confidentially filed for an IPO and the Wall Street Journal reported that it had engaged Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to advise on a potential listing in September. This would complete a trifecta of giant flotations this year with SpaceX launching this Friday and Anthropic also announcing its intention to go public last week.
Further evidence that OpenAI might be eager to identify new sources of funding was provided last week when U.S. media carried stories that its chief executive, Sam Altman, was in discussions with the White House about the government potentially taking a stake.
Earlier in 2026 there was talk in the markets to the effect that some SoftBank insiders were questioning the wisdom of its chief executive's unwavering commitment to OpenAI. SoftBank's CEO and founder, Masayoshi Son, was apparently very dismissive of the concerns. This chatter coincided roughly with articles appearing in the press reporting that OpenAI was struggling to hit internal revenue and user growth targets.
Lenders may also be worried about some of SoftBank's other spending commitments after its ambitious proposal to invest EUR45 billion over the next five years in AI infrastructure and datacenters in France was announced a fortnight ago.
Despite the recent share price falls, SoftBank's shares are still showing a healthy 46% return in 2026 and in the last twelve months an even more impressive 219%. While the OpenAI funding may be generating the headlines at present, a more important driver of SoftBank's shares this year has been the huge appreciation of its 90% stake in Arm Holdings.
U.S.-listed Arm Holdings (ARM), a semiconductor and software design company, has seen its shares triple in 2026 and until its correction that also began last week. SoftBank's holding was worth more than $400 billion.
-Jules Rimmer
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06-10-26 0539ET

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SoftBank shares fell over 20% in five sessions, triggered by reports that creditors are reluctant to lend $10 billion against its OpenAI stake. Concerns include potential OpenAI IPO dynamics and SoftBank's heavy spending commitments. Despite the drop, SoftBank remains up 46% year-to-date, driven largely by the appreciation of its Arm Holdings stake.

- SoftBank is facing challenges in securing a $10 billion loan backed by its 13% stake in OpenAI, resulting in a more than 20% decline in its shares recently.  
- Concerns about OpenAI's IPO prospects and SoftBank's other spending commitments have added to lender hesitance.  
- Despite share price drops, SoftBank still shows a 46% return in 2026, largely driven by the significant appreciation of its stake in Arm Holdings, which has tripled in value this year.

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Here's why shares in SoftBank, no longer Japan's most valuable, have fallen by a fifth in the last week