Bloomberg is today reporting the size of Softbank’s stake in Nvidia is $4 billion, for 4.9 per cent of the company, which it says would make it the fourth..<\/b>
\nWhen Softbank announced the first close of its Vision Fund this weekend \u2014 securing an initial commitment of $93 billion, from investors including Apple, Qualcomm and Foxconn \u2014 it also quietly disclosed it had taken a stake in Nvidia.
Bloomberg is today reporting the size of that stake is $4 billion, for 4.9 per cent of the company, which it says would make Softbank the fourth largest investor in the chipmaker.
Albeit, not necessarily for much longer: A line in the PR for the Vision Fund close on Saturday notes that the Vision Fund will have the right to acquire \u201ccertain investments already acquired (or agreed to be acquired) \u201d by the Softbank Group \u2014 with Nvidia being listed as one of those investments, along with a 24.99 per cent stake in chip designer Arm (which Softbank acquired last year for ~$31BN) . Although Softbank of course retains its own ties to the Vision Fund and the fund\u2019s investments.
A Softbank spokesman declined to confirm the amount of its investment in Nvidia or to comment on Bloomberg\u2019s report.
As we wrote recently, Nvidia\u2019s GPUs have arguably become the bedrock underlying the current AI market explosion. And AI is one of the core areas of focus for Softbank\u2019s Vision Fund. Indeed, CEO Masayoshi Son set out his personal conviction earlier this year that the next thirty years will see the rise of superintelligent AI \u2014 saying this underpins his \u201churry\u201d to raise the ~$100BN fund. So a chunky Nvidia investment meshes with his view of tomorrow\u2019s world.
Even so, Softbank has been spreading a lot of cash around lately. Other recent confirmed investments include $1.4BN in Indian fintech unicorn Paytm; lead investor in virtual reality Improbable Worlds \u2018$502M raise; $5BN in China\u2019s Uber killer Didi Chuxing; and a fresh $1.7BN in global connectivity company OneWeb, after also investing $1BN last year .
Some of these stakes may well move into the Vision Fund imminently, as the Nvidia stake and a chunk of ARM reportedly have. The fund has also been linked to a potential investment in WeWork, among others.
Son has previously said the mammoth Vision Fund won\u2019 t be a \u201ctypical fund\u201d \u2014 and indeed, in size it\u2019s unprecedented. But its modus operandi is intended to be hard to ignore too. \u201cMost of our investments will range between 20 and 40 percent, making us the largest shareholder and board member, in a position to discuss strategy with the founders, \u201d he told Bloomberg earlier this year.
So if money can buy superintelligent AI it looks like Son is going to be the one to try and prove it.<\/p>\n

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