SoftBank Group Q4 profit jumps on OpenAI gains

SoftBank Group said on May 13 that its net profit rose to 1.83 trillion yen (US$11.6 billion), in the January to March quarter, up from 517 billion yen (US$3.28 billion) a year earlier, helped by gains at its Vision Fund tied largely to OpenAI.

The Vision Fund posted a 3.1 trillion yen (US$19.7 billion) investment gain in the quarter, and SoftBank has now reported profit for five straight quarters as OpenAI’s valuation increased across funding rounds.

SoftBank has pledged another US$30 billion to OpenAI in 2026, which would lift its total committed investment to US$64.4 billion for a stake of about 13%, funded in part through sales of holdings including T-Mobile and Nvidia, as well as bonds and loans backed by Arm and SoftBank Corp.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

SoftBank spread the OpenAI investment across several stages

SoftBank committed up to US$40.0 billion to OpenAI through SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Another US$11.0 billion came from third-party co-investors, with the money paid in several installments 1.
The first US$7.5 billion closed in April 2025. The next US$22.5 billion closed in December 2025 1.
Much of SoftBank’s wider OpenAI funding plan depended on OpenAI completing its shift to a for-profit structure by early 2026 2.
The arrangement also includes a 50-50 joint venture to build “Cristal Intelligence,” an enterprise AI product for Japanese companies 2.

The AI push is putting SoftBank under financial strain

To cover these commitments, SoftBank sold large holdings, including its full Nvidia stake for about US$5.8 billion and billions of dollars in T-Mobile shares 3.
The company is also taking on more debt, including a proposed US$10 billion margin loan backed by its OpenAI stake 4.
The approach led S&P Global, a financial ratings firm, and the Japan Credit Rating Agency, a Japanese credit assessor, to revise SoftBank’s outlook to negative 2.
Those agencies put SoftBank’s loan-to-value ratio near its 25% ceiling 2. The ratio measures debt against pledged assets and climbs with added borrowing 2.