SoftBank announced that it sold 32 million shares of American chipmaker AI in October. The transaction coincided with the release of financial results for the second quarter of the fiscal year, in which the company posted net income of 2.5 trillion yen ($16.2 billion). This is more than a doubling increase compared to the same period last year and a result significantly exceeding analysts' forecasts estimating profit at 207 billion yen.
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According to “FT”, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank's financial director, explained that the sale of shares in Nvidia was related to the need to obtain funds for other investments. As he emphasized, the company had no specific reasons to sell shares in October, and the decision was not related to Nvidia itself. He added that “this year, investments in OpenAI are significant – over $30 billion is needed. — that's why we have to sell existing assets“.
SoftBank's financial performance was also largely driven by gains from its Vision Funds, its technology-focused investment funds. The value of their portfolio increased by 2.8 trillion yen thanks to investments in companies such as OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, and the Japanese payment platform PayPay. In addition to the sale of Nvidia shares, SoftBank also sold part of the shares in the American telecommunications operator T-Mobile, obtaining USD 9.2 billion.
Masayoshi Son, known for his bold investments to make SoftBank a key player in artificial intelligence, sees this technology as crucial to the future of humanity. As part of this strategy, the company owns shares in British chip designer Arm, invests in Oracle, supports the construction of the giant Stargate data center in the US, and recently acquired ABB's robotics division for $5.4 billion.
SoftBank shares have more than doubled this year, reaching above PLN 22,000. yen. Investors see the company as an indirect way to get involved in the development of OpenAI. Thanks to these successes, Masayoshi Son became the richest man in Japan.
