SoftBank’s reported attempt to pledge its entire OpenAI position for a $6 billion loan turns the AI boom’s biggest question into a credit-market problem: how much is a private valuation worth when banks have to lend against it?
The answer, at least for now, appears to be less than SoftBank wanted.
Bloomberg reported that SoftBank Group failed to make progress in talks for a margin loan of at least $6 billion backed by its OpenAI stake, according to Reuters. The talks stalled after SoftBank had already reduced the original target from $10 billion to as low as $6 billion.
The sharper read comes from technology commentator Ed Zitron, who said SoftBank was pledging all of its OpenAI stock, worth more than $60 billion on paper, to borrow $6 billion.
If accurate, the implied loan-to-paper-value ratio would be roughly 10%.
That is the real story. SoftBank was not trying to borrow against a random startup stake but against shares in the company behind ChatGPT, a firm OpenAI said was valued at $852 billion after its March 31 funding round.
SoftBank’s loan effort had already been losing altitude. Reuters reported in May, citing Bloomberg, that the company cut the target from $10 billion to as low as $6 billion after some creditors hesitated over OpenAI’s valuation.
Reuters reported that SoftBank declined to comment. The company is still considering other financing options and could revisit the margin loan later, according to the Bloomberg report cited by Reuters.
That leaves SoftBank with a balance-sheet contradiction. The OpenAI stake can boost reported investment gains, but it may still be hard to use as spendable liquidity.
SoftBank has already leaned heavily into debt to fund its AI strategy. Reuters reported in March that the group secured a $40 billion bridge loan to fund further OpenAI investments and other corporate needs. The loan was unsecured and maturing in March 2027, with banks including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, and MUFG Bank involved.
The group has also been reshaping its portfolio around OpenAI. SoftBank reportedly worked to meet a $22.5 billion OpenAI funding commitment by selling its entire $5.8 billion Nvidia stake, reducing T-Mobile exposure, cutting staff, and slowing most other Vision Fund deals above $50 million unless Masayoshi Son approved them directly.
OpenAI’s eventual IPO could change the equation. A public listing would give banks a clearer market price, a more visible exit route, and cleaner collateral mechanics. But until that happens, SoftBank is asking creditors to accept a private valuation as if it were already public-market collateral.
That is a big ask, especially after OpenAI’s paper valuation surged to $852 billion in its latest funding round.
If Zitron’s read is right, the message from lenders is blunt: even a $60 billion-plus OpenAI paper stake was not persuasive enough to unlock $6 billion on acceptable terms.
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