SoftBank’s latest financial manoeuvres highlight a familiar tension for the Japanese group: balancing Masayoshi Son’s appetite for high-risk, high-reward bets with the practical limits of its own balance sheet.
The company has been selling down lucrative holdings, including a multibillion-dollar stake in Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA, ETR:NVD) and a portion of its T-Mobile US shares, to help fund an ambitious new spending spree centred on artificial intelligence (AI). In recent months, SoftBank has either committed or lined up more than $40 billion for acquisitions and investments.
That includes a $22.5 billion follow-on investment in ChatGPT creator OpenAI, a $6.5 billion deal to acquire US chipmaker Ampere, and a $5.4 billion purchase of ABB’s robotics unit.
Analysts say that while the group’s cash reserves remain strong, its funding needs for the current quarter are “substantial”. At the end of September, SoftBank held roughly $28 billion in cash, a comfortable buffer but one that could quickly shrink given the pace of its commitments.
To bridge the gap, the conglomerate has tapped bond markets in several currencies and secured large credit lines, including an $8.5 billion loan linked to its OpenAI investment and a $6.5 billion bridging loan for the Ampere deal.
The rapid build-up in spending has prompted fresh scrutiny from investors, particularly as valuations in the tech and AI sectors continue to soar.
Some market watchers fear that SoftBank could be extending itself too far, too fast, repeating patterns seen during earlier investment cycles.
Others note that recent sales of liquid assets such as Nvidia stock are pragmatic rather than pessimistic, freeing up cash for what Son sees as the next great technology frontier.
“SoftBank’s liquidity has improved since it last issued hybrid bonds, but it still needs to stay proactive in managing its funding,” observed analyst Mary Pollock of CreditSights in a recent note.
SoftBank’s leadership remains unfazed by the debate. Son has repeatedly argued that AI represents the defining technological shift of the century and that SoftBank must be at its forefront.
The group’s Vision Fund chief financial officer, Navneet Govil, has also pushed back on comparisons to the early 2000s tech bubble, pointing out that today’s AI firms are generating real revenue, not just speculation-driven valuations.
In that sense, SoftBank’s latest portfolio reshuffle, monetising old winners to fund new ones, fits its long-standing playbook.
Yet as the company deepens its exposure to AI, investors and analysts alike will be watching to see whether Son’s conviction delivers another era of growth or stretches SoftBank’s resources to their limit.