SoftBank Closes $30B OpenAI Follow-On — Final $10B Tranche, ~13% Stake, Bridge Gone
SoftBank Group executed the third and final $10 billion tranche of its February-announced OpenAI follow-on via Vision Fund 2 on October 1 (Japan time), completing $30 billion and bringing cumulative OpenAI investment to $64.6 billion (~13% ownership). Funded from September 24 foreign-currency senior notes — not bridge debt — SoftBank also canceled the remaining $10 billion undrawn under its March $40 billion bridge as of September 30.
The largest named OpenAI shareholder just finished the check it promised in February — and walked away from the bank bridge that financed the path there.
SoftBank Group announced that on October 1, 2026 (Japan time) it executed the third and final USD 10.0 billion tranche of its follow-on investment in OpenAI Group PBC via SoftBank Vision Fund 2, completing the USD 30.0 billion follow-on disclosed February 27. SoftBank’s cumulative OpenAI investment is now USD 64.6 billion, with ownership interest of approximately 13%. The Next Web independently carries the same dollars, ownership, Vision Fund 2 vehicle, and bridge-exit frame.
How it was paid — and what closed
The third tranche was funded with proceeds from foreign currency-denominated senior notes SoftBank announced on September 24, 2026 — SoftBank’s primary is explicit that this is not further bridge draw. Effective September 30, 2026, SoftBank canceled the remaining USD 10.0 billion of undrawn capacity under the March 27, 2026 bridge facility (total facility USD 40.0 billion). After that cancellation and the September 9 early repayment SoftBank previously disclosed, all borrowings under the bridge have been repaid and no undrawn commitments remain.
Prior tranche chronology SoftBank lists: first tranche April 1, second July 1, third October 1 — equal $10B legs of the February $30B commitment. TNW adds market color SoftBank’s primary does not rest on: the $30B as part of a larger OpenAI round context (Amazon / Nvidia commitments) and a Reuters-described bond raise size around the September notes. Prefer SoftBank’s disclosed $64.6B / ~13% / Vision Fund 2 / notes-funded / bridge canceled stack over secondary round framing.
The financing trade
This is a completion and ownership disclosure, not a new commitment and not the earlier desk item on separate ~$30B / $1.4T bridge-round talk. SoftBank converts a multi-tranche follow-on into a finished stake figure and exits the bank facility that sat underneath it. For OpenAI capital-structure readers, the material facts are cumulative dollars, named ownership, and the vehicle — Vision Fund 2 — plus the clean bridge close.
Limits
- Dollar amounts, ownership (~13%), Vision Fund 2 vehicle, notes funding, and bridge cancellation are from SoftBank’s October 1 press release; TNW corroborates the core stack.
- Round-context figures (Amazon/Nvidia commitments, $122B / $852B) appear in TNW, not SoftBank’s third-tranche release — treat as secondary framing.
- Ownership “approximately 13%” is SoftBank’s disclosure; dilution math beyond that statement is out of scope here.
- Distinct from excluded bridge-round rumor coverage and from SoftBank–OpenAI–SB Energy Stargate energy spend already on the archive.