Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son recently shared a few laughs and some bittersweet memories at the AI Summit in Tokyo. At the center of their banter? SoftBank’s former role as Nvidia’s largest shareholder – and how they decided to let that golden opportunity slip away.
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In 2019, SoftBank SFTBF sold all of its Nvidia NVDA shares, which comprised about 4.9% of the company. It seemed like a solid move back then: they had invested around $700 million and ended up making $3.3 billion from the sale. But now, Son admits the decision wasn’t exactly a home run. Today, those shares would be worth over $150 billion.
During their talk, Huang jokingly said, “We can cry together,” hugging Son on stage as they remembered what might have been. Son, not missing a beat, added that he had to “tearfully” sell those shares. Huang even shared that Son once offered him financial backing to buy Nvidia outright – something he now wishes he'd taken. “That was a great idea,” Huang said, with a hint of regret.
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Huang praised Son for being a visionary who has consistently backed winning innovators like Bill Gates, Jerry Yang and Steve Jobs. Son has a talent for recognizing big opportunities and helping establish major tech moments, from bringing Gates and Jobs to Japan to making Alibaba’s success possible in China. Yet, even with all those successes, the missed Nvidia chance still stings.
Today, Nvidia is worth $3.6 trillion and is the world’s most valuable company, ahead of tech giants like Apple and Microsoft. Its value has skyrocketed thanks to the AI boom, with its chips playing a crucial role in powering AI technologies across the globe. Nvidia’s stock has surged 2,768% in the last five years, putting Jensen Huang’s net worth at a staggering $127 billion.
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SoftBank, meanwhile, remains heavily invested in the future of AI. Son has made it clear that he’s not done yet. He recently mentioned that his true purpose might be to bring about artificial superintelligence (ASI) – a form of AI that could be 10,000 times smarter than humans. His belief in the power of AI and its ability to solve global problems, from diseases to natural disasters, keeps driving him forward.
Despite the missed opportunity with Nvidia, SoftBank is moving ahead at full throttle. Son and Huang recently announced a partnership to build Japan’s most powerful AI supercomputer using Nvidia’s latest Blackwell chips. The goal? To establish Japan as a major player in AI, with applications that could transform industries like telecommunications, health care and transportation.
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