SoftBank Group

What SoftBank Group does

SoftBank Group Corp. (ソフトバンクグループ株式会社) is a Tokyo-headquartered strategic investment holding company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (ticker 9984) and operating across more than ten countries with 64,642 employees as of FY24. Founded by Masayoshi Son in September 1981 as a PC software distributor, SoftBank has evolved through four platform shifts — PCs, internet, mobile and now AI — and today anchors four reportable segments: (i) the Investment Business of Holding Companies, (ii) the SoftBank Vision Funds (SVF1, SVF2, LatAm), (iii) the SoftBank Segment (telecom, broadband, enterprise mobile, ICT distribution, media/ecommerce via LINE Yahoo, and finance via PayPay and PayPay Bank), and (iv) the AI Computing Segment (Arm Holdings for CPU IP and the new in-house Arm AGI CPU, Ampere Computing for Arm-based AI datacenter CPUs, and Graphcore for AI accelerators). Beyond its operating subsidiaries, SoftBank holds an approximately 13% stake in OpenAI (~$64.6B committed), pursues AI infrastructure at industrial scale (€75B for up to 5 GW in France, $100B Stargate with a 10 GW Ohio campus), and is consolidating its AI robotics assets into a planned US-listed vehicle called Roze targeting up to $100B in valuation.

The company's business model blends operating-company revenue (subscription and usage-based at SoftBank Corp., licensing/royalties and chip sales at Arm, transaction fees at PayPay, managed services in the Other Segment) with significant holding-company investment returns — most notably FY2025's ~$46B Vision Fund gain, of which ~$45B came from OpenAI valuation appreciation. FY2025 consolidated sales reached approximately ¥7.8 trillion (~$50B) and net income hit a record ¥5 trillion ($32B), making SoftBank the first Japanese company to exceed ¥5T in annual profit; in June 2026 its market cap surpassed Toyota's at roughly ¥48T. Go-to-market differs by segment: SoftBank Corp. distributes through domestic retail and partner shops, PayPay through its merchant and consumer app network (now Nasdaq-listed), Arm through global OEM and hyperscaler licensing, and the holding company itself through direct equity investments, joint ventures (The Deployment Company, Exol with Symbotic) and syndicated mega-deals with NVIDIA, Amazon, Microsoft, Mubadala and Temasek. Underpinning all of this is SoftBank's "Cluster of No. 1" strategy, which positions Arm and OpenAI as the twin indispensable platforms for an Artificial Super Intelligence era and uses coordinated capital, board and ecosystem moves to compound value across portfolio nodes.

Name

SoftBank Group

Legal name

ソフトバンクグループ株式会社 (SoftBank Group Corp.)

Website

https://group.softbank

Company type

Public

Founded year

1981

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

SoftBank Group Corp. is a Tokyo-listed Japanese strategic investment holding company (founded 1981) that operates SoftBank Corp., PayPay, LINE Yahoo, Arm Holdings and the Vision Funds, and anchors an AI-focused portfolio built around Arm compute and a ~13% stake in OpenAI.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Strategic Investment Holding Company

NAICS

Open-End Investment Funds (525910)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Direct Lending — Specialty Finance (Consumer/SME Lending Platforms) (FSAHAJAF)

Keywords

• Strategic technology investment
• AI infrastructure development
• Semiconductor IP licensing
• Venture capital funds
• Technology holding company

Headquarters

HQ city

Tokyo

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. SoftBank Segment (telecom, broadband, distribution, media/EC, finance): Consumer mobile, broadband, enterprise mobile solutions, ICT distribution, advertising and commerce (LINE Yahoo), and financial services (PayPay) generate recurring subscription and usage-based revenue primarily in Japan.
2. AI Computing Segment (Arm, Ampere, Graphcore): Revenue from semiconductor IP licensing, chip design and sales (including Arm's first in-house CPU), and related software tools and services.
3. Vision Fund investment gains: FY2025 Vision Fund delivered a $46 billion gain for SoftBank, driven overwhelmingly by OpenAI valuation appreciation; OpenAI valuation rose to roughly $150 billion from ~$29 billion in early 2023.
4. Holding Company Investment Business: Direct and subsidiary-driven strategic investments (e.g., Intel, T-Mobile) realized through capital appreciation, dividends, and asset sales such as the 2026 Lenskart divestiture and T&D Financial Life Insurance stake acquisition.
5. Other Segment (energy/data center, robotics, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks): Revenue from solar power plant development/operation, datacenter development, robotics-related businesses, and the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks baseball operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

SoftBank Group is a strategic investment holding company focused on artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. It operates through the Investment Business of Holding Companies, the SoftBank Vision Funds (SVF1, SVF2, LatAm), the SoftBank Segment (telecom, broadband, fintech, internet services via SoftBank Corp., LINE Yahoo, PayPay, PayPay Bank), and the AI Computing Segment (Arm Holdings, Ampere Computing, Graphcore), with direct investments in AI leaders such as OpenAI.

Product overview

SoftBank Group Corp. operates as a strategic investment holding company organized around four core business segments: (1) Investment Business of Holding Companies, (2) SoftBank Vision Funds (SVF1, SVF2, LatAm), (3) SoftBank Segment (telecom/consumer/enterprise via SoftBank Corp, LINE Yahoo, PayPay, PayPay Bank), and (4) AI Computing Segment (Arm Holdings, Ampere Computing, Graphcore). The portfolio spans financial products like Vision Funds, technology infrastructure products (AI data centers, Roze, SB Energy solar), payment products (PayPay), Internet services (LINE Yahoo), semiconductor IP (Arm), robotics (SoftBank Robotics, ABB Robotics), and digital media. These products connect through the company's "Cluster of No. 1" (群戦略) strategy, where investee companies form strategic synergy groups around AI leadership with Arm and OpenAI identified as the twin pillars for the ASI (Artificial Super Intelligence) era.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SoftBank Vision Fund: Investment fund brand comprising Vision Fund 1 (SVF1) and Vision Fund 2 (SVF2), focused on AI, robotics and growth-stage technology investments worldwide.
• SoftBank Latin America Fund
• Roze
• PayPay
• LINE Yahoo
• Yahoo! JAPAN
• Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

Products and services

• SoftBank Vision Fund 1 (SVF1) $100 billion technology investment fund launched in May 2017, managed by SB Investment Advisers (UK) Limited, focused on AI and high-growth technology companies worldwide.
• SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (SVF2) Second Vision Fund launched in October 2019, managed by SB Global Advisers Limited; became the holding entity for SoftBank's significant investment in OpenAI and other AI-focused portfolio companies.
• SoftBank Latin America Fund Latin America-focused technology investment fund operated through SBLA Latin America Fund LLC, investing in growth-stage technology companies across the region.
• Arm AGI CPU (Arm's first in-house silicon chip) Arm's first in-house designed silicon chip - a datacenter CPU optimized for cloud services and agentic AI workloads, marketed to hyperscalers and AI datacenter operators such as Meta, OpenAI, Cloudflare and SAP.
• Ampere AI Datacenter CPUs

Named customers5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

AI capability4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core — subsidiary acquisition (subsidiarization) announced, flagship — key industrial equipment partner for france ai infrastructure, flagship — site partner for bouchain datacenter, core — co-developer of bosquel 1 gw ai datacenter, core — japan ai infrastructure partner, minor — japanese ai infrastructure partner, core — operational partner for exol robotic fulfillment network, flagship — ai infrastructure and openai co-investor, flagship — openai funding partner and ai infrastructure participant, minor — pending acquisition target at $16.00/share, flagship — planned $100 billion us ipo spin-off, minor — historical governance arrangement terminated, flagship — pending $5.4 billion acquisition of abb's robotics business and flagship — flagship us ai infrastructure project with us government.

• T&D Financial Life Insurancecore — subsidiary acquisition (subsidiarization) announcedStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026SoftBank Group announced that a subsidiary will acquire shares of T&D Financial Life Insurance Company to make it a subsidiary, expanding SoftBank's financial services footprint in Japan.
• Schneider Electricflagship — key industrial equipment partner for france ai infrastructureStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Strategic partnership for the industrial manufacturing cluster at the Port of Dunkirk to support SoftBank Group's €45 billion / 3.1 GW AI datacenter first phase in Hauts-de-France (and broader €75B / 5 GW France commitment). Schneider Electric is the key equipment partner.
• EDF (Électricité de France)flagship — site partner for bouchain datacenterStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026Strategic partnership under which EDF handed over a former power plant site for conversion into the Bouchain AI datacenter as part of the Hauts-de-France 3.1 GW build-out.
• Sestercecore — co-developer of bosquel 1 gw ai datacenterStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026SoftBank Group and Sesterce announced joint development of a 1 GW AI datacenter in Bosquel, France, as part of the Hauts-de-France 3.1 GW build-out by 2031.
• Microsoftcore — japan ai infrastructure partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Microsoft announced a $10 billion investment in Japan (2026–2029) for AI data centers and related infrastructure; collaboration includes SoftBank Group and Sakura Internet for AI capacity and secure data storage in Japan, plus engineering training with NTT and NEC.
• Sakura Internetminor — japanese ai infrastructure partnerStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Local partner collaborating with SoftBank Group and Microsoft on AI infrastructure in Japan as part of Microsoft's $10 billion Japan investment plan.
• Symboticcore — operational partner for exol robotic fulfillment networkStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Symbotic co-backed Exol (formerly GreenBox Logistics) with a $7.5 billion commitment from SoftBank Group and Symbotic to build a US network of six robotic fulfillment sites totaling ~6 million sq ft (Atlanta plus planned California, Texas, New Jersey and Illinois facilities).
• NVIDIAflagship — ai infrastructure and openai co-investorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026NVIDIA co-invested in the $122 billion OpenAI funding round alongside SoftBank, Amazon and Microsoft; broader strategic alignment on AI compute infrastructure underpinning SoftBank's Stargate / data center investments.
• Amazonflagship — openai funding partner and ai infrastructure participantStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Amazon contributed to the $122 billion OpenAI funding round (with a $35 billion contribution partially contingent on OpenAI going public or achieving AGI) alongside SoftBank Group, NVIDIA and Microsoft.
• DigitalBridge Groupminor — pending acquisition target at $16.00/shareStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026SoftBank Group Corp. announced a proposed acquisition of DigitalBridge Group at $16.00 per share; subject to legal review of price/process adequacy.
• Roze (AI robotics / data center spinoff)flagship — planned $100 billion us ipo spin-offStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026SoftBank plans to establish and list Roze in the US with a targeted valuation of up to $100 billion, focusing on autonomous robotics for AI datacenter construction; listed as early as 2026 to offset the tens of billions in OpenAI commitments.
• OpenAI / Tether / iFinex (Bitfinex) — Governance Agreementminor — historical governance arrangement terminatedStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2026Governance Agreement dated 8 December 2025 involving Tether Investments, SoftBank, and iFinex (Bitfinex) for Twenty One Capital; this agreement was terminated in May 2026 alongside SoftBank's full divestment to Tether.
• ABB (ABB Robotics)flagship — pending $5.4 billion acquisition of abb's robotics businessStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2025SoftBank announced acquisition of ABB's robotics business for $5.4 billion to expand its AI Computing / robotics segment; pending completion around the earnings call reporting period.
• Symbotic / SoftBank joint — Ports Technology Campus (Stargate)flagship — flagship us ai infrastructure project with us governmentStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 202510 gigawatt Ports Technology Campus in Ohio — public-private AI infrastructure project with the US government; tied to Stargate's $500 billion initiative and the 9.2 GW Piketon gas generator + 10 GW AI datacenter campus.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Hyperscale cloud + AI infrastructure operator (AWS Trainium, Anthropic investment) and co-investor with SoftBank in OpenAI. Comparable as both a competitor for AI compute workloads and a peer in the same AI investment consortia.
• NVIDIA: Dominant AI accelerator supplier and co-investor in OpenAI's $122B funding round. Comparable to SoftBank as a structural beneficiary of AI compute demand, though NVIDIA captures this through silicon pricing power rather than equity-stake concentration.
• Microsoft: Deep OpenAI partnership, $80B+ AI datacenter capex program, and a Japan AI infrastructure partnership with SoftBank itself. Comparable as a hyperscaler co-investor with SoftBank on OpenAI and as a competitor for AI compute customers and large language model leadership.
• Alphabet: Parent of Google with both a hyperscale AI compute platform (TPUs, Google Cloud) and large strategic venture investments (e.g., Anthropic). Comparable to SoftBank as a cash-generative technology platform with AI infrastructure plus investment capabilities, but anchored in a single core operating business.
• Silver Lake Partners: Large-cap technology-focused private equity firm (Broadcom, Dell, Twitter). Comparable to Vision Fund 1/2 in its tech investment mandate and check size, though structured as a traditional private-equity fund rather than a permanent-capital vehicle.

Direct peers

• Berkshire Hathaway: Diversified holding company with concentrated strategic equity stakes (Apple, railroad, energy, insurance). Most directly comparable to SoftBank as a permanent-capital vehicle that compounds through large, often contrarian capital allocations rather than operating businesses directly.
• Mubadala Investment Company: UAE sovereign wealth fund and direct co-investor with SoftBank in the Pax Silica consortium. Comparable as a sovereign-scale strategic AI investor with comparable check size, cross-border deal flow, and long-duration capital base.
• Naspers / Prosus: Emerging-markets technology holding company with concentrated internet/AI equity stakes (Tencent historically, food delivery, edtech). Closest pure strategic-tech-investment-holdco peer to SoftBank outside Japan, with a similar holding-company-discount problem and listed parent structure.
• Temasek Holdings: Singapore sovereign wealth fund co-investing with SoftBank in Pax Silica and active across AI, semiconductors, and financial services globally. Comparable in scale, long-duration capital, and cross-border tech investment mandate.
• Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia): Saudi sovereign wealth fund deploying tens of billions into AI infrastructure (Humain) and strategic tech stakes. Comparable to SoftBank as a sovereign-scale strategic AI investor building both equity positions and physical compute infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SoftBank_Group
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/SoftBankGroup
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/softbankgroup

Compliance13 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries32 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A2 records

Investments333 records

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Frequently asked questions about SoftBank Group