An Ag—Au—Pd ternary alloy bonding wire for semiconductor devices made from 4-10 mass % of gold having a purity of 99.999% or higher, 2-5 mass % of palladium having a purity of 99.99% or higher, and remaining mass % of silver (Ag) having a purity of 99.999% or higher; and this wire contains 15-70 mass ppm of oxidizing non-noble metallic elements, and is thermally annealed before being continuously drawn through dies, and is thermally tempered after being continuously drawn through the dies, and this wire is useful for ball bonding in a nitrogen atmosphere; Ag2Al and a Pd rich layer produced in the interface between the Ag—Au—Pd ternary alloy wire and an aluminum pad suppress the corrosion development between the Ag2Al intermetallic compound layer and the wire.