SoftBank Group Corp.’s flagship Vision Fund has been quietly selling off or writing down billions of dollars worth of its publicly-listed holdings in recent years. This move is indicative of founder Masayoshi Son’s shift away from venture capital deals and towards strategic investments in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
The Vision Fund has seen its US-listed portfolio shrink by almost $29 billion since the end of 2021. This reduction is due to the sale of stakes in companies such as Coupang Inc., DoorDash Inc., and Grab Holdings Ltd., as well as a decrease in share prices. The sale of the Vision Fund’s stake in chip designer Arm Holdings Plc back to SoftBank last year is not included in this figure.
Son is preparing for possible ventures into AI and related hardware, marking a significant shift in SoftBank’s investment strategy. The equity capital market team at SoftBank has played a central role in monetizing the Vision Fund’s sizable stakes with minimal market disruption.
The Vision Fund, once a tech kingmaker, is now a shadow of its former self. It has laid off more than a hundred staff and slowed new investments to a fraction of its past pace. Many of the investments led by Son now bypass the Vision Fund and are orchestrated by the holding company.
One possible project on the horizon for Son is a $100 billion chip venture to compete with Nvidia Corp. and supply semiconductors to power the development of AI services. As the tech landscape continues to evolve, Son’s strategic shift serves as a reminder of the need for constant vigilance and course correction in tech projects.
Read more: finance.yahoo.com