Son has done very well with the first US$34.6 billion, most of which was invested last year at a US$260 billion valuation. The latest funding round, which pegs OpenAI’s valuation at US$852 billion, will allow the firm to book US$45 billion in paper gains, implying a 129% return, according to Bloomberg Intelligence.
SoftBank Group Corp founder Masayoshi Son is known for making audacious multibillion-dollar bets. Some acquisition deals, such as the one involving chip designer Arm Holdings, have paid off nicely, while others, most notably WeWork Inc, have become big flops. So what about OpenAI, by far Son’s largest investment?
In March, the ChatGPT maker completed a historic funding round, raising US$122 billion (US$155 billion), with SoftBank promising to invest an additional US$30 billion. Upon completion of this follow-on investment, the Japanese conglomerate will have deployed US$64.6 billion into the AI startup, for about a 13% stake.
