SoftBank Sells $5.8 Billion Nvidia Stake to Fund New AI Bets

In a move that has sent ripples through the tech investment world, Japan's SoftBank Group has sold its entire remaining stake in AI chip leader Nvidia, pocketing $5.8 billion. The sale is a clear signal of founder Masayoshi Son's strategic pivot to redirect capital from established public holdings toward a massive new, direct bet on artificial intelligence.

The company disclosed the sale of all 32.1 million of its Nvidia shares, which took place in October 2025. The divestment comes as Nvidia's stock continues its historic run, having recently become the world's first $5 trillion company.

This is the second time SoftBank has cashed out of the chipmaker. The firm famously sold a significant Nvidia holding in 2019, a move that prematurely locked in a $3.6 billion profit but missed out on the stock's subsequent 1,200% surge driven by the AI boom.

Cashing In to Double Down
While selling the world's hottest AI stock might seem counter-intuitive, SoftBank's move is not a bearish signal on Nvidia. Instead, it is a massive reallocation of capital to fund Son's "all-in" bet on OpenAI and related AI infrastructure projects.

According to SoftBank's Chief Financial Officer, Yoshimitsu Goto, the firm's planned investments in AI are "very substantial" and require divesting existing assets to finance them.

The $5.8 billion, along with an additional $9.17 billion raised from selling T-Mobile shares, is being assembled for a war chest to fund a rash of new AI ventures, including:

A $30 Billion Investment in OpenAI: SoftBank is deepening its partnership with the ChatGPT creator. Reports indicate a $22.5 billion investment is scheduled to close in December 2025 at a $260 billion pre-money valuation.

Project Stargate: Son is a key partner in the ambitious $500 billion joint venture with OpenAI to build out a new generation of AI data center infrastructure.

Future AI Ventures: Masayoshi Son has also been reportedly working on "Project Izanagi," a plan to raise as much as $100 billion to create an AI chip powerhouse, potentially in partnership with Arm, which SoftBank controls.

This strategy—selling a highly successful public AI stock to fund a more concentrated, private bet on the next wave of AI—is a classic, high-stakes move by Son. He is essentially cashing in his winnings on the "picks and shovels" (Nvidia's chips) to fund the "gold mines" (OpenAI's models) and the construction of new, larger mines (Stargate).