- SoftBank’s Vision Fund offloads $29 billion in public holdings to refocus on AI and chips.
- Founder Masayoshi Son pivots after Arm’s $106 billion valuation.
- Recent divestments and gains signal the fund’s strategic reshaping.
Shifting gears, changing lanes
Bloomberg reports a significant transformation within SoftBank Group’s Vision Fund. Founder Masayoshi Son redirects his focus toward semiconductors and artificial intelligence, prompting the fund to offload or write down its publicly listed holdings over recent years.
The US-listed portfolio alone has contracted by nearly $29 billion since late 2021, attributable to stake divestments and declining market values of firms like Coupang, DoorDash, and Grab.
Chips ahoy! AI on the horizon
Son’s strategic pivot follows the meteoric rise of chip company Arm, valued at around $106 billion post-IPO last year.
SoftBank’s 90% stake in Arm now outweighs the entire SoftBank valuation. Consequently, the Vision Fund’s staff has diminished, concentrating on opportune asset sales and loss mitigation.
While past discussions hinted at additional Vision Funds, their materialization remains uncertain as Son contemplates a $100 billion investment in a chip venture to rival Nvidia and propel AI development.
After weathering losses in the first half of 2023, the SoftBank Vision Fund regained momentum with a $3.6 billion gain in the December 2023 quarter.
Vision Funds 1 and 2 divested investments worth $19.5 billion during this period, including complete exits from 13 portfolio companies.
Underscoring its AI pivot, SoftBank has also offloaded most of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.
To read the original article: https://www.techinasia.com/softbanks-vision-fund-marks-29b-downturn-founder-embraces-ai-semiconductors
