SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son says he cried after selling Nvidia, and regrets every share

SoftBank shocked Wall Street in November by announcing it had sold its entire Nvidia stake, a holding worth almost $6 billion. The sale pushed Nvidia’s stock lower because investors took it as a negative signal from a big tech investor.

At an event in Tokyo, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the decision was painful, calling it emotionally difficult. Son said he wished SoftBank had kept its Nvidia shares because he respects both the company and its CEO, Jensen Huang, as reported by Business Insider.

SoftBank needed cash for OpenAI investment

Son explained he only sold because he urgently needed money to invest more into OpenAI. "I respect Jensen, I respect Nvidia so much, I don't want to sell a single share," he said. He added, "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."

SoftBank’s big AI spending plans

SoftBank first invested in Nvidia in May 2017, taking a $4 billion stake, long before the AI boom. It was the first time SoftBank was unloading Nvidia stock since 2019, when it let go off about $3.3 billion of its stock in the tech major—before resuming buying it back in 2020, increasing the pace further with the launch of ChatGpt by Open AI about three years ago.

Banking on the projection that AI based super Intelligence might drive about 10% of the global GDP growth in the coming years, Son said that SoftBank’s AI strategy is based on the belief that super intelligence is coming, Business Insider reported. SoftBank’s investments are a reflection of this belief, with the bank announcing plans to pump $40 billion into OpenAI, including $22.5 billion by the end of 2025. He said reaching this future will require $10 trillion in total investment.

FAQ

Q1. Why did SoftBank sell all its Nvidia shares?

SoftBank sold its Nvidia shares because Masayoshi Son needed the money to invest more heavily into OpenAI.

Q2. Does Masayoshi Son regret selling Nvidia?

Yes, Son said he regretted every share he sold and even said he “was crying” because he wanted to keep the Nvidia stake.