Net income at Japan's SoftBank Group, led by Masayoshi Son (Japanese name Son Masayoshi), surged. The value of OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT in which SoftBank Group invested, rose, boosting the valuation of its equity holdings.
Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported on the 12th that SoftBank Group's consolidation settlement of account net income for Apr.–Dec. last year was 3.1726 trillion yen (about 29.8 trillion won), a fivefold increase from a year earlier.
Investment profit from the OpenAI stake came to 2.7965 trillion yen (about 26.2 trillion won). As of December last year, SoftBank Group had invested a cumulative $34.6 billion (about 50 trillion won) in OpenAI, securing 11% equity.
Kyodo News said, "The performance was driven as the AI-focused investment policy put forward by Chairman Son delivered results," and added, "Results were also strong at the telecom subsidiary SoftBank and the U.K. semiconductor company Arm."
SoftBank Group's sales for Apr.–Dec. last year totaled 5.7192 trillion yen (about 54 trillion won), up 7.9% from a year earlier.
Investment profit from the Vision Fund business, which invests in AI-related corporations, was 3.9111 trillion yen (36.8 trillion won). The rise in OpenAI's corporate value and gains in the share prices of Korea's Coupang and Chinese ride-hailing application Didi Chuxing are also seen as having contributed to the strong results.