SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son revealed he was emotionally distraught over the decision to sell the company's entire stake in Nvidia Corp., a move made to free up capital for artificial intelligence ventures.
Son made the comments during a speech at the FII Priority Asia forum in Tokyo on Monday, where he addressed the November disclosure of the sale. "I don’t want to sell a single share. I just had more need for money to invest in OpenAI and other projects," Son said.
He added, "I was crying to sell Nvidia shares." The sale involved 32.1 million shares offloaded in October for $5.83 billion, according to regulatory filings.
SoftBank executives described the transaction as essential to strengthen the Vision Fund's cash position for AI initiatives, and analysts echoed that view in November.
Son emphasized his admiration for Nvidia and its CEO Jensen Huang, stating, "I respect Jensen, I respect Nvidia so much, I don't want to sell a single share… I just had more need for money to invest into OpenAI, invest into our opportunities, so I was crying to sell Nvidia shares. If I had more money, of course, I wanted to keep Nvidia shares, all the time, any time."
The funds from the Nvidia sale support SoftBank's expanding AI commitments, including a planned $30 billion infusion into OpenAI for model development and expansion.
SoftBank has also pursued other AI projects this year, such as acquiring U.S. chip designer Ampere Computing LLC and partnering on the Stargate data center initiative with Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
The company's second-quarter net profit reached 2.5 trillion yen, or $16.6 billion, last month, boosted by gains from its OpenAI holdings.
SoftBank's involvement with Nvidia dates back to May 2017, when its Vision Fund acquired a stake valued at about $4 billion before the widespread adoption of AI technologies.
The firm sold that position in 2019 for around $3.3 billion, then began repurchasing shares in 2020 and accelerated acquisitions after OpenAI released ChatGPT in late 2022. The latest divestment marks the second complete exit from Nvidia since the initial investment.
Son dismissed concerns of an AI investment bubble during the forum, asserting that super artificial intelligence and AI robots could contribute at least 10% to global gross domestic product in the long term, justifying trillions in spending.
He questioned skeptics by asking, "Where is the bubble?"