Softbank Group Corp (OTC:SFTBY) (OTC:SFTBF) founder Masayoshi Son admitted he sold the company’s entire Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) stake only out of necessity.
Son said he reluctantly sold the company’s entire Nvidia stake to free up cash for new AI bets, telling an audience in Tokyo that he “was crying” as he parted with the shares.
Son addressed SoftBank’s November disclosure that it unloaded its Nvidia position for $5.83 billion, saying the company would never have sold “a single share” if it didn’t need the capital to fund major artificial-intelligence investments, including its expanding partnership with OpenAI and large-scale data center projects.
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“I just had more need for money to invest in OpenAI and other projects,” CNBC cited Son at the FII Priority Asia forum.
Meanwhile, Nvidia became the first company to top the $5 trillion market cap on October 29, after hitting the highs of $4.5 trillion at the beginning of the month.
Bank of America Securities fueled the rally by reaffirming its Buy rating and hiking its price forecast from $235 to $275, a move that signaled strong institutional conviction in Nvidia’s continued leadership.
Geopolitics And Nvidia’s Global Influence
CEO Jensen Huang amplified investor optimism during the week by urging Washington to take a balanced approach to the U.S.–China tech rivalry, warning that isolating China’s developer ecosystem would backfire.
At the same time, President Donald Trump said he plans to discuss Nvidia’s “super duper” Blackwell chips with Chinese President Xi Jinping, underscoring Nvidia’s central role in global tech diplomacy.
Huang also announced partnerships to build seven U.S. supercomputers and introduced NVQLInk, a breakthrough that links Nvidia GPUs with quantum computers.
SoftBank’s Expanding AI Strategy
SoftBank has accelerated its AI push this year through initiatives like the Stargate Project, data centers, and its acquisition of chip designer Ampere Computing.
The company may “potentially” deepen its investment in OpenAI depending on performance and future valuation rounds, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Son has repeatedly said SoftBank is “all in” on OpenAI and predicted the startup could become the world’s most valuable company.
That conviction has already lifted SoftBank’s financials: the company reported second-quarter profit more than doubling to 2.5 trillion yen ($16.6 billion), helped by valuation gains tied to OpenAI.
AI Bubble Doubters Are ‘Not Smart Enough’
Son also dismissed rising concerns that the AI industry is overheating, arguing that critics “are not smart enough” to understand the scale of what’s coming.
He predicted that future superintelligent AI and robotics will generate at least 10% of global GDP, easily justifying the trillions flowing into the sector.
NVDA Price Action: Nvidia shares were up 0.61% at $182.56 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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