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SoftBank Reports $46 Billion Vision Fund Gain Driven by OpenAI Stake
SoftBank posted a $46 billion gain at its Vision Fund for the financial year ended March, driven mainly by its stake in OpenAI. The Japanese company reported net income of ¥1.83 trillion in its fiscal fourth quarter, far exceeding analyst estimates. The performance has increased confidence to invest further in the ChatGPT maker.
May 13, 4:26 AM·2m read5 sources
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Japan TimesAudio version
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SoftBank posted a $46 billion gain at its Vision Fund for the financial year ended March, driven mainly by its stake in OpenAI. The company reported a net income of ¥1.83 trillion, or about $11.6 billion, in its fiscal fourth quarter. That result beat the average analyst estimate of ¥295.2 billion by a wide margin.
The surge in profit stemmed largely from valuation gains on the OpenAI investment. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kirk Boodry said the profit could be attributed entirely to $25 billion in such gains booked during the quarter. Those OpenAI-related gains outweighed lackluster investment performance elsewhere in the portfolio.
Market volatility from the war in the Middle East also affected results during the period. The strong showing has boosted confidence at the company to increase its bets on OpenAI. The U.S. startup faces rising competition from Anthropic and Google while reportedly trailing its highest internal targets.
SoftBank earned the ¥1.83 trillion in net income for the three months ended March. The figure marked a sharp increase from prior periods and highlighted the impact of its artificial intelligence holdings. Company officials noted that the OpenAI position was the primary driver of that performance.
The quarterly results have emboldened the company to commit more capital to OpenAI. Executives see the investment as central to the firm's technology strategy despite challenges at the startup. OpenAI continues to develop its ChatGPT platform amid intensifying rivalry in the artificial intelligence sector.
The company's internal performance metrics have fallen short of some ambitious forecasts, according to reports.
“The gains on OpenAI outweighed lackluster investment gains elsewhere in the Tokyo-based technology group's portfolio while war in the Middle East roiled markets." — Bloomberg, May 13, 2026 The company's reliance on the OpenAI stake has grown more pronounced. This dependency comes as the broader investment environment remains uncertain due to geopolitical tensions.”
