Quick Read
- SoftBank sold its entire $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia in October 2025.
- The sale triggered a 10% drop in SoftBank shares and jitters across Asian markets.
- SoftBank’s profits nearly tripled year-on-year, driven by AI-focused Vision Fund returns.
- Proceeds are being redirected to major investments in OpenAI and AI development.
- Nvidia’s shares fell 3% after the disclosure, but the partnership with SoftBank remains strong.
SoftBank’s $5.8 Billion Nvidia Sale Reverberates Across Asian Markets
On a brisk November morning, headlines from Tokyo to Hong Kong painted a clear picture: SoftBank Group Corp. had shaken up the tech investment landscape. The Japanese conglomerate, led by the ever-visionary Masayoshi Son, revealed it sold its entire stake in Nvidia Corporation — a move worth $5.8 billion. The announcement rippled through Asian stock exchanges, leaving investors grappling with the implications.
For Japan’s Nikkei index, the immediate impact was palpable. SoftBank shares tumbled as much as 10%, dragging the benchmark flat despite gains elsewhere. The market’s reaction, captured by Bloomberg, underscored a nervousness that’s been brewing beneath the surface of the tech sector — particularly around soaring AI valuations and the sustainability of such meteoric rises.
Why Did SoftBank Sell? Shifting Focus From Chips to AI
SoftBank’s decision wasn’t born out of desperation or loss. In fact, fiscal results for April through September showed profits tripling year-on-year, reaching 2.5 trillion yen (about $13 billion), buoyed by strong returns from its Vision Funds. The sale of Nvidia, according to statements reported by Associated Press, was a strategic pivot. The group intends to channel the proceeds into further investments in artificial intelligence, notably through OpenAI — the company behind ChatGPT.
Masayoshi Son’s ambitions in AI are nothing new. Earlier in 2025, he joined tech luminaries and policymakers to announce a massive $500 billion Stargate project aimed at advancing AI development. SoftBank’s deepening ties with OpenAI, both in capital and planned services for Japan, mark a clear evolution in its investment philosophy: from betting on the hardware backbone of AI to the algorithms and platforms driving the future.
While SoftBank’s relationship with Nvidia remains cordial — many of its ventures rely on Nvidia’s technology — the sale signals a willingness to cash in on historic gains. Nvidia recently broke the $5 trillion market cap threshold, and its shares have been a main driver of this year’s tech rally. Yet, as Financial Times notes, some analysts welcome SoftBank’s exit, suggesting it could be prudent to take profits at a time when AI hype is drawing comparisons to the dot-com bubble.
Market Reaction: Uncertainty and Opportunity
The immediate aftermath saw SoftBank’s stock touch a one-month low in Tokyo, with investors skittish over the prospect of shifting priorities. Nvidia’s own shares dropped 3% in US trading following the disclosure, compounding anxiety among those wary of overinflated tech valuations. Yet, the broader Asian market told a more nuanced story.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 1% in morning trade, powered by robust gains in tech and health-tech names such as JD Health and Alibaba Health. Electronics giant Xiaomi saw its shares climb nearly 4% after outperforming Tesla in Chinese EV sales for the first time — a testament to shifting dynamics in the region’s innovation race.
Mainland China’s indexes remained subdued, weighed down by geopolitical concerns and reports of new restrictions on US military access to rare earths. Elsewhere, South Korea’s KOSPI and Australia’s ASX posted modest gains, while India’s Sensex dipped slightly after a multi-day rally.
The Big Picture: SoftBank’s Gamble and the AI Gold Rush
SoftBank’s move comes at a critical juncture for the tech sector. With AI investments accelerating at breakneck speed, giants like Nvidia and OpenAI have become central figures in a narrative reminiscent of past bubbles. Nvidia’s planned $100 billion investment in OpenAI, including the construction of massive AI data centers, illustrates the scale of the current arms race.
Son’s strategy is clear: leverage SoftBank’s capital to ride the next wave of technology, even if it means stepping away from one of the market’s hottest stocks. The sale not only provided liquidity but also aligned with broader ambitions to embed AI deeper into Japan’s economy and society. Through its Vision Funds and stakes in companies like Arm Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., SoftBank continues to maintain influence in the chip sector, hedging its bets as the landscape evolves.
Despite the share price slump, SoftBank’s fundamentals remain strong. The company’s sales rose 7.7% to $24 billion in the last six months, and its stock nearly doubled over the past year. As reported by Investing.com, other Japanese blue chips like Sony posted positive earnings, helping offset some of the negative sentiment.
Yet, investor angst persists. The bond market has seen sell-offs in US tech heavyweights, and critics warn that valuations may be running ahead of reality. The parallels to the dot-com era are impossible to ignore — but so too are the transformative possibilities of AI.
What’s Next for SoftBank, Nvidia, and AI?
For SoftBank, the sale marks both an end and a beginning. The company’s capital will now fuel new ventures, with OpenAI at the forefront. Whether Son’s wager pays off will depend on the pace of AI adoption and the ability of his investments to generate sustainable returns.
For Nvidia, losing a major investor at its peak could be a blessing in disguise. Analysts suggest that the exit may reduce market volatility around its shares, allowing for more organic growth as the AI sector matures. The partnership between Nvidia and OpenAI, underpinned by massive infrastructure investments, remains intact — ensuring that both companies continue to shape the future of computing.
In the end, SoftBank’s bold shift is emblematic of the broader realignment taking place in tech. As hardware and software converge, the next decade may well be defined by those willing to bet on intelligence over infrastructure.
SoftBank’s exit from Nvidia is a calculated risk, trading short-term market turbulence for a long-term position in AI’s next frontier. While investor jitters are understandable, the move underscores the necessity of adaptation in an industry where yesterday’s winners can quickly become today’s sellers. Whether Son’s vision pays off will be a litmus test for tech investment in the age of artificial intelligence.