SoftBank has finalized a $40 billion (approximately 57.6 trillion won) investment agreement for OpenAI, once again drawing attention to the ambitions of Japan's largest investment firm in the AI industry. At the heart of this deal is SoftBank's record-breaking single cash injection of $22.5 billion (approximately 32.4 trillion won) into OpenAI last week. Previously, SoftBank had prepaid $7.5 billion last month, with the remaining $17.5 billion raised through an investor consortium in April.
The funds will be used for OpenAI's "Starlink Data Center" project, aimed at securing 10GW of computing power in the United States. The project, with Oracle (ORCL) and SB Energy, SoftBank's renewable energy subsidiary, are collaborating on the project, which is scheduled for completion by 2029.
This investment was contingent upon OpenAI's organizational restructuring. OpenAI restructured its for-profit entity within the non-profit organization, transforming the for-profit division into an independent public interest enterprise. With this change completed, SoftBank was able to implement a large-scale cash investment.
According to Nikkei Asia, SoftBank will acquire approximately 11% of OpenAI's shares, becoming its second-largest shareholder after Microsoft (MSFT) with a 27.5% stake. Microsoft reportedly held a 32% stake before the restructuring, but some of its shares were diluted after the reorganization.
It is reported that SoftBank cleaned up some of its portfolio assets to raise this funding. It sold $5.8 billion (approximately 8.35 trillion won) worth of Nvidia (NVDA) shares and $4.8 billion (approximately 6.91 trillion won) worth of T-Mobile (TMUS) shares, and secured a $11.5 billion (approximately 16.56 trillion won) loan by pledging Arm Holdings shares.
OpenAI's rising enterprise value is also noteworthy. In March of this year, when SoftBank began investing, OpenAI's enterprise value was $300 billion (approximately 432 trillion won), but after recently completing a $6.6 billion (approximately 9.5 trillion won) secondary market sale, it has risen to $500 billion (approximately 720 trillion won). According to the Wall Street Journal, OpenAI is currently in talks for a new round of financing with a valuation as high as $830 billion (approximately 1195 trillion won).
Furthermore, OpenAI is reportedly considering an initial public offering (IPO) in 2027, which could bring at least $60 billion (approximately 86.4 trillion won) worth of shares to the market. The company's value is projected to reach as high as $1 trillion (approximately 1440 trillion won), which, from SoftBank's perspective, represents a significant opportunity to realize substantial valuation gains.
In addition, SoftBank continues its aggressive portfolio expansion across the entire AI field. It recently reached an agreement to acquire DigitalBridge, a technology-focused private equity fund, for $4.04 billion (approximately 58.2 trillion won). DigitalBridge's portfolio includes the Vantage data center, which is assisting in the construction of OpenAI's Stargate computing campus in Wisconsin. This is interpreted as SoftBank's attempt to vertically integrate its AI ecosystem into the physical infrastructure sector.
