SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo, Japan Feb. 3, 2025.
Kim Kyung-Hoon | Reuters
SoftBank booked a yearly gain of $46 billion at its Vision Fund driven mainly by the huge rise in value of its investment in OpenAI.
The Japanese giant has invested more than $30 billion in OpenAI, with its investment gains in the company totalling $45 billion in the year ended March.
In the three months to the end of March, the Vision Fund saw a gain of around $20 billion, which was nearly all driven by OpenAI as SoftBank suffered losses on other investments such as Coupang, DiDi Global and Klarna.
SoftBank is looking to position itself in the center of the artificial intelligence boom with investments across various AI and chip companies, and Sam Altman’s OpenAI forming the centrepiece.
SoftBank has committed to invest more than $60 billion in OpenAI which would give it around 13% ownership of the company, the company said in February. More than $30 billion of that as already been invested.
In March, OpenAI closed a funding round that was co-led by SoftBank and that valued the AI lab at $852 billion.
While the rising valuation of OpenAI has helped SoftBank’s Vision Fund, the concentration of OpenAI in SoftBank’s portfolio has raised concerns around its debt load. In March, S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook for SoftBank from “stable” to “negative.”
The ratings agency said SoftBank’s “asset liquidity and quality of its portfolio, and its financial capacity are likely to deteriorate because of its additional huge investment in OpenAI.”
SoftBank could “limit negative financial impacts” by selling some assets, the ratings agency said. Indeed, SoftBank has been selling down stakes in companies like T-Mobile and Nvidia to fund its OpenAI bet.
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