Masayoshi Son, SoftBank Group CEO, has revealed that the company’s decision to sell its substantial stake in Nvidia was a painful, though necessary, step taken to fund its aggressive new investments in artificial intelligence (AI), including a major commitment to OpenAI. Addressing the November disclosure that SoftBank had completely unloaded its shares worth $5.83 billion in the world’s most valuable chipmaker, Son expressed deep regret, figuratively admitting he ‘cried’ when he sold shares of the biggest tech company in terms of market cap.“I don’t want to sell a single share. I just had more need for money to invest in OpenAI and other projects,” Son told attendees at the FII Priority Asia forum in Tokyo on Monday (December 2). “I was crying to sell Nvidia shares,” Japan’s second richest man added.
Son bets on the AI future, says no AI bubble
Son’s comments clarified that SoftBank needed immediate capital and selling was driven by a string of expansive AI projects. These projects include construction of a massive Stargate data centre in partnership with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (commonly known as Foxconn), the acquisition of US chip designer Ampere Computing, and accelerated plans to increase investment in OpenAI by the end of the year.The Japanese tech executive also dismissed that the current surge in AI spending represents an investment bubble.“People who talk about a bubble around AI investment are not smart enough,” the 68-year-old CEO highlighted. Son argued that if AI eventually captures even 10% of global gross domestic product (GDP) over the long term, this return would easily justify trillions of dollars in cumulative spending. “Where is the bubble?” he questioned.
When Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang made fun of Softbank founder
The ‘cry’ comment brought back a year-old memory about the conversation between Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Son. During Huang’s visit to Japan last November, he publicly ‘teased’ Son over his past investment timing.Huang once introduced Son on stage by praising him as the “only entrepreneur, only innovator in the world that has selected the winner and partnered with the winner in every single generation,” citing his crucial roles in introducing giants like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs to Japan and backing Alibaba. Huang then delivered the punchline: “You maybe many of you probably don’t know this, but at one point, Masa was the largest shareholder of Nvidia.”This was a mention of the massive, missed returns by Son, who then playfully rested his head on Huang’s shoulder as if weeping. Huang responded with mock sympathy, “It’s okay. We can cry. We can cry together. Could you imagine? If today, you are the largest shareholder. Oh, my God.”
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