Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (L) and the CEO of the SoftBank Group Masayoshi Son pose during an AI event in Tokyo on November 13, 2024.
SoftBank said Tuesday it has sold its entire stake in U.S. chipmaker Nvidia for $5.83 billion as the Japanese giant looks to capitalize on its "all in" bet on ChatGPT maker OpenAI.
The firm said in its earnings statement that it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October. It also disclosed that it sold part of its T-Mobile stake for $9.17 billion.
"We want to provide a lot of investment opportunities for investors, while we can still maintain financial strength," said SoftBank's chief financial officer, Yoshimitsu Goto, during an investor presentation.
"So through those options and tools we make sure that we are ready for funding in a very safe manner," he said in comments translated by the company, adding that the stake sales were part of the firm's strategy for "asset monetization."
Nvidia shares dipped 2% on Tuesday.
The sale of Nvidia shares, partial sale of T-Mobile shares and the margin loan on SoftBank's holding in Arm , are all "sources of cash that will be used to fund the $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI," a person familiar with the matter told CNBC. They added that this cash will fund other projects the firm is working on such as its acquisition of ABB 's robotics unit.
The offloading of the Nvidia stake had nothing to do with concerns about artificial intelligence valuations, the person said.
While the Nvidia exit may come as a surprise to some investors, it's not the first time SoftBank has cashed out of the American AI chip darling.
SoftBank's Vision Fund was an early backer of Nvidia, reportedly amassing a $4 billion stake in 2017 before selling all of its holdings in January 2019. Despite its latest sale, SoftBank's business interests remain heavily intertwined with Nvidia's.