--- title: "SoftBank writes off $3.7 billion of power deposits for OpenAI's Ohio campus in a $7.1 billion loss" description: "SoftBank's first quarterly loss in almost two years is a writedown of $3.7 billion in non-refundable power-equipment deposits, cash already sitting with suppliers, and it lands on the holders of ¥32.59 trillion of interest-bearing debt and of the stock. Wednesday's Tokyo open is the first tradeable reaction to the booked hole." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Data Center" published: 2026-11-10T14:07:04.294Z modified: 2026-11-10T14:07:04.294Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/softbank-writes-off-3-7-billion-of-power-deposits-for-openai-s-ohio-campus-in-a-7-1-billion-loss language: en keywords: "SoftBank, OpenAI, Data Centers, Earnings, Power" --- # SoftBank writes off $3.7 billion of power deposits for OpenAI's Ohio campus in a $7.1 billion loss > SoftBank's first quarterly loss in almost two years is a writedown of $3.7 billion in non-refundable power-equipment deposits, cash already sitting with suppliers, and it lands on the holders of ¥32.59 trillion of interest-bearing debt and of the stock. Wednesday's Tokyo open is the first tradeable reaction to the booked hole. SoftBank, the Japanese tech investor and [OpenAI](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/openai)'s biggest backer, [booked a ¥1.12 trillion ($7.1 billion) net loss for the July-to-September quarter](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/softbank-logs-7-billion-loss-065612363.html), its first in almost two years, against an expected profit [1][8]. The decisive $3.7 billion is not a valuation swing: it writes off non-refundable advance payments to secure power-generation equipment for the 8-gigawatt Ohio data-center campus and other US sites [1][2]. That cash has left SoftBank and sits with the suppliers, while the loss lands on the holders of its stock and debt [1][2]. The shares closed 13.88% higher in Tokyo on Tuesday, hours before the release, and sit more than 50% below June's record, so Wednesday's open is the first tradeable reaction [1][3]. *Chart: **From a ¥2.5 trillion profit to a ¥1.12 trillion loss in a year** Column chart of SoftBank Group quarterly net income: a ¥2.50 trillion profit in the July-to-September quarter a year earlier, an analyst consensus of about ¥0.129 trillion for the latest quarter, and an actual ¥1.12 trillion loss.* *Net income attributable to owners of the parent, July–September quarters, in trillions of yen; the consensus bar is the Bloomberg analyst average, not a reported figure. [1][3]* ## The deposits were the price of arriving early at a full grid The writedown is the first booked cost of the AI buildout's earliest bottleneck: getting power. Data centers need power before they need chips, US grids are overwhelmed, and lead times on generation equipment run long, so SoftBank paid ahead, non-refundably, to hold its place in the manufacturing queue [4]. "We made bridge investments in advance to secure power generation equipment in anticipation of shortage," a SoftBank executive said on the earnings call [4]. The loss came through Silver Bands 7, a subsidiary SoftBank shares with Vision Fund 2, its second startup-investment fund, and [the accounts name the PORTS-Pike campus in Ohio](https://www.securities.io/softbank-group-posts-1-12-trillion-loss-as-investments-reverse/), the site OpenAI has leased for two decades [4][5]. ## The hole lands on whoever lent the money Financing decides who carries a quarter like this. Interest-bearing debt stood at ¥32.59 trillion at end-September [5]. [The last $10 billion tranche of the OpenAI commitment closed on October 1](https://theinference.org/article/junk-bond-buyers-just-bankrolled-softbank-s-last-10-billion-payment-to-openai) [5][8]. It was funded by [a record junk-bond sale carrying SoftBank's highest-ever coupon, 9.75%](https://www.msn.com/en-in/technology/tech-companies/softbank-junk-bond-sale-raises-stakes-ceo-sons-all-in-ai-bet/ar-AA2ebpRo), and the firm now borrows instead of selling assets, as it once did with [Nvidia](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/nvidia) and T-Mobile shares, to keep holdings it expects to rise [6][8]. Credit default swaps, the cost of insuring its debt against default, sit at their highest in years, and the Vision Fund, expected to profit, lost ¥81.6 billion [1][6]. Against the debt sits an OpenAI stake carried at $99.6 billion, unchanged since March [4][7]. ## The open question is how much deposit risk is still live Wednesday's session opens on a question the print cannot answer: one-off, or the first of still-live commitments. [Cumulative payments for US power equipment stood at $9.48 billion at end-September](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/softbank-swings-to-7-billion-loss-after-us-data-center-hit-and-intel-share-decline/ar-AA2h7FL4), of which $3.7 billion is now written off, and the accounts do not disclose how much of the rest is still at risk [4]. The rebate rights SoftBank won in the settlement were booked at nothing because the amount could not be determined [5]. Wednesday's open prices the two things that matter next: whether more of the paid deposits follow Ohio into a writedown, and whether SoftBank books the OpenAI revaluation it says may come in the fiscal third quarter [4]. If the campuses are built and leased, the suppliers keep their payments, OpenAI gets its power, and the debt is serviced from assets SoftBank still holds. If the plans slip again, the deposits stay lost, and the stock and the bonds carry the loss. ## Takeaway $3.7 billion of power-deposit writedowns flipped SoftBank to its first loss in two years ## Sources 1. [Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, SoftBank Logs $7 Billion Loss After US Data Center Costs Swell, 10 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/softbank-logs-7-billion-loss-065612363.html) 2. [Bloomberg Law, SoftBank Loses $7 Billion After Big US Data Center Writedown (2), 10 November 2026](https://news.bloomberglaw.com/artificial-intelligence/softbank-loses-7-billion-after-big-us-data-center-writedown-2) 3. [Associated Press via Yahoo Finance, Japanese investor SoftBank Group sinks into losses as company's AI hopes falter, 10 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/japanese-investor-softbank-group-sinks-094204614.html) 4. [CNBC via MSN, SoftBank swings to $7 billion loss after US data center hit and Intel share decline, 10 November 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/economy/softbank-swings-to-7-billion-loss-after-us-data-center-hit-and-intel-share-decline/ar-AA2h7FL4) 5. [Securities.io, SoftBank Group Posts ¥1.12 Trillion Loss as Investments Reverse, 10 November 2026](https://www.securities.io/softbank-group-posts-1-12-trillion-loss-as-investments-reverse/) 6. [Reuters via The Economic Times (MSN), SoftBank junk bond sale raises stakes for CEO Son's all-in AI bet, 13 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-in/technology/tech-companies/softbank-junk-bond-sale-raises-stakes-ceo-sons-all-in-ai-bet/ar-AA2ebpRo) 7. [Investing.com via Yahoo Finance, Softbank Group logs unexpected, $7 bln Q2 loss on AI rout, data center disruptions, 10 November 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/softbank-group-logs-unexpected-7-072123151.html) 8. [Yahoo Finance (Lena Park), SoftBank's $30 Billion OpenAI Bet Just Hit Its Final Tranche. The $11 Billion Bond Sale That Funded It Is the Real Signal., 1 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/softbank-30-billion-openai-bet-093149223.html) --- SoftBank writes off $3.7 billion of power deposits for OpenAI's Ohio campus in a $7.1 billion loss — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/softbank-writes-off-3-7-billion-of-power-deposits-for-openai-s-ohio-campus-in-a-7-1-billion-loss