SoftBank Dumps Entire $5.83B Nvidia Stake—Fueling AI War Chest With Crypto-Style Pivot
SoftBank just pulled a classic crypto move—liquidating a blue-chip position to chase the next shiny thing. The Japanese conglomerate sold its entire $5.83 billion stake in Nvidia, swapping proven silicon for AI moonshots.
Here's the playbook:
• All-in on AI: That $5.83B didn't walk out the door—it's being redeployed into generative AI startups and robotics. Because when you've missed the crypto boat, why not double down on the next hype cycle?
• Nvidia's loss?: The GPU giant's stock barely blinked at the sell-off. Guess when you're printing money from AI chip demand, even SoftBank-sized exits are rounding errors.
• Wall Street shrugs: 'Strategic reallocation' sounds better than 'desperate pivot'—but let's see how those AI bets age compared to Nvidia's 300% rally since 2023.
Pro tip for investors: When conglomerates start trading like degenerate crypto traders, maybe just buy and hold the picks-and-shovels plays.
SoftBank directs funds toward OpenAI and Ampere
This is not the first time SoftBank has exited Nvidia. The Vision Fund first bought around $4 billion worth of Nvidia stock in 2017, then exited the position in January 2019.
Even after the latest sale, the two companies are tied through shared AI‑related projects, including involvement in the Stargate data center buildout in the United States, a project valued at $500 billion that depends on Nvidia technology.
Equity analyst Rolf Bulk of New Street Research said the sale should not be viewed as a sign of caution about Nvidia itself. Rolf said the company needs at least $30.5 billion for investment commitments between October and December, including $22.5 billion designated for OpenAI and $6.5 billion for Ampere, another AI computing firm.
Rolf noted that this amount is more capital in one quarter than SoftBank invested in total over the past two years combined.
Dan Baker, an analyst at Morningstar, said SoftBank emphasized that the Nvidia sale was not based on any change in outlook on Nvidia. Dan said the money is needed to fund other AI companies in the pipeline, not because the group sees any weakness in Nvidia.
The company also made clear that its broader business network still relies on Nvidia’s chips and infrastructure partnerships.
Vision Fund reports $19 billion gain and company profit doubles
The Vision Fund reported a $19 billion gain in the fiscal second quarter. That gain helped SoftBank double its quarterly profit. The fund has been active across the AI stack: semiconductors, large language model development groups, and robotics companies.
Yoshimitsu said the fund’s result ties back to its first investment in OpenAI in September last year, before OpenAI’s valuation increased again.
Yoshimitsu also said that OpenAI’s estimated $500 billion valuation places it among the highest‑valued firms in the world based on fair value estimates.
Company shares have fallen over the past week, as concerns around a possible AI bubble have moved across markets. Yoshimitsu acknowledged that movement, saying the company’s stock price has been “going up and down dynamically” recently.
He said the new four‑for‑one stock split was introduced to create more investment opportunities for shareholders, stating that the company wants more room for investors to enter and trade.
SoftBank said the moves taken this quarter are meant to support continued access to the growing AI market, while keeping enough liquidity on hand to operate without taking on unnecessary risk.
If you're reading this, you’re already ahead. Stay there with our newsletter.
