SoftBank Group (SFTBF 0.07%) is a Japanese holding company that focuses on investment management. The company was formerly a software distributor but evolved over the years and now invests in public and private businesses through its venture capital funds.
It is best known for the SoftBank Vision Fund, the world's largest venture capital fund focused on technology businesses. SoftBank is also one of the largest publicly traded companies in Japan.
Although Japanese, the company manages capital for clients worldwide, including several Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds. The Vision Fund's largest investor is Saudi Arabia, and it has also received investments from Apple (AAPL 0.07%), Qualcomm (QCOM -0.23%), and several other large technology companies.
What it owns
What companies does Softbank own?
Over the years, SoftBank has invested in many companies in industries such as software, real estate, robotics, telecommunications, e-commerce, finance, and more. It has been a holding company since 1999 and has made some highly successful (and some not-so-successful) investments.
SoftBank was an early investor in Alibaba (BABA -0.91%) and owns stakes in T-Mobile (TMUS -1.56%); Arm Holdings (ARM 2.01%), of which it is the majority owner; Lemonade (LMND -1.36%); and Nvidia (NVDA -0.14%). Here's a list of some of SoftBank's most prominent current investments and some notable previous investments it has exited.
Arm Holdings
SoftBank acquired chip designer Arm Holdings in 2016 for about $32 billion. Arm completed an initial public offering (IPO) in mid-2023 and currently has a market cap of about $153 billion. SoftBank owns about 90% of the company, which values its stake at about $138 billion as of January 2025.
T-Mobile
SoftBank invested in Sprint Nextel years ago, and when T-Mobile acquired Sprint in 2020, SoftBank was left with a 24% stake in the combined business. After divesting some of its ownership, SoftBank owned about 7.3% of T-Mobile in late 2024, according to regulatory filings.
Divest
WeWork
SoftBank invested $4.4 million into WeWork in 2017. The company's planned 2019 initial public offering (IPO) was scrapped, and WeWork subsequently went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021.
However, it ended up filing for bankruptcy in 2023. At that time, SoftBank had invested a total of $16 million in the co-working giant. After finalizing its bankruptcy in 2024, SoftBank no longer owns a majority stake.
Nvidia
SoftBank owns a 0.04% stake in graphics processing unit (GPU) maker Nvidia, although it owned about 5% of the tech giant before unloading the stake about five years ago. This might not sound like a ton, but because of Nvidia's massive size, this is still a $1.5 billion investment. Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) technology is a big priority of SoftBank's leadership, so it's unsurprising to find shares of the dominant leader in AI-focused chips in its portfolio.
Lemonade
SoftBank owned a 16.8% stake in insurance technology company Lemonade as of the latest regulatory filings. The investment has been unsuccessful so far, but Lemonade's stock has come back a bit (and SoftBank reportedly sold a bit of its stake). Lemonade's business is growing rapidly and making clear progress toward profitability, but SoftBank invested at a time when the stock was very highly valued.
Compass
SoftBank invested more than $1 billion in real estate startup Compass (COMP 1.26%) in 2023. Although it sold some of its shares in late 2023 and early 2024, it still owns about 15% of the company. Compass provides an online real estate platform that includes software for customer relationship management, operations, client services, and more.
Yahoo! Japan
SoftBank acquired the Yahoo! Japan business for $1.6 billion from Verizon (VZ 0.05%) in 2021. It is Japan's second-most popular search engine, behind Alphabet's (GOOGL 0.54%)(GOOG 0.45%) Google.
Telecommunications
It's also worth noting that SoftBank Corporation itself (not the venture funds) operates a rather large communications business with mobile and landline services. It owns several telecommunications brands, including the third-largest wireless carrier in Japan, and spun out from SoftBank Group (the investment arm).
Other publicly traded investments
SoftBank owns minority stakes in many other businesses, some public and some private. Here's a quick rundown of other publicly traded investments listed on SoftBank's most recent regulatory filings.
- Symbiotic (SYM -0.8%) -- 37.5% ownership
- Inter & Co. (INTR -0.45%) -- 22.7%
- Nu Holdings (NU -0.12%) -- 0.5%
- Vtex (VTEX 0.16%) -- 25.7%
- Neumora Therapeutics (NMRA 2.62%) -- 4.7%
- IonQ (IONQ -1.8%) -- 0.7%
There are others, including several extremely small positions. SoftBank files a Form 13F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) every quarter, where the full details of its holdings can be viewed.
Previous investments
Previous SoftBank investments
SoftBank has made plenty of notable investments throughout its history, and it's important for investors to realize that it doesn't still own them all. SoftBank was an early investor in a few prominent companies. Here are some of the most well-known examples.
Uber
SoftBank led a $9 billion investment into Uber (UBER 0.47%) in early 2018, making it the largest shareholder in the rideshare giant. The bank sold $2 billion of Uber shares in early 2021 and reported selling the remainder of its stake in mid-2022.
Alibaba
Alibaba is SoftBank's most successful investment in its history, with the fund acquiring a stake in the business in 2000 for $20 million. When Alibaba went public in late 2014, SoftBank's investment had grown to about $60 billion. However, in mid-2024, SoftBank announced that it had sold substantially all of its Alibaba stake.
Opendoor
SoftBank was a pre-IPO investor in real estate technology platform Opendoor (OPEN 4.96%), investing $400 million in September 2018. The bank exited the investment in mid-2022.
DoorDash
The SoftBank Vision Fund invested $535 million in DoorDash (DASH 2.66%). However, it has mostly exited the investment, reporting a 0.01% ownership stake worth about $3.3 million in its latest regulatory filing.
Cruise Automation
Cruise Automation is an autonomous vehicle technology company that is majority-owned by General Motors (GM 1.99%). Other vehicle manufacturers, including Honda (HMC -1.43%), are also invested in Cruise. SoftBank formerly owned an almost 20% stake, but GM bought out SoftBank's stake in 2022 to increase its ownership.
Future companies
What companies could SoftBank buy in the future?
SoftBank's investment activity has slowed considerably in recent years. SoftBank has pumped the brakes on investing thanks to a combination of profitability concerns, a lack of suitable investment candidates, and a string of losing investments.
However, we're seeing a resurgence in IPO and venture investing. So, it's entirely possible we'll see SoftBank start making serious investments again.
Venture Capital
AI is a particular area of interest for SoftBank's founder, Masayoshi Son. There have been reports that SoftBank is considering investments in AI startups. Son reportedly aims to raise $100 billion to build a new business that would collaborate with Arm and compete with Nvidia to produce AI chips. Plus, Son has reportedly met with OpenAI's leadership about potentially investing in a separate AI chip venture.
Last but not least, CEO Masayoshi Son recently announced a plan to invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years in the wake of Donald Trump's election to a second term.
There's no way to know for sure what SoftBank and its leadership are planning to invest in next or whether any of the investment opportunities they are exploring will actually result in an investment taking place. But there's a good chance it will be something AI-related.
Related investing topics
The bottom line
SoftBank has been one of the most prominent investment managers of the past couple of decades, and for good reason. They've had massive home runs like Alibaba and several notable investments that didn't do well or even resulted in total losses.
As you can see, SoftBank still owns stakes in some well-known companies and is still actively searching for its next opportunities.
FAQ
FAQ: Companies owned by SoftBank
What brands does SoftBank own?
SoftBank generally owns stakes, not the entire business, in public and private companies. One notable exception was Arm Holdings, which SoftBank acquired in its entirety several years before it went public. Despite becoming publicly traded, SoftBank still owns more than 90% of Arm.
Examples of some of the most well-known companies in which SoftBank owns a stake include Alibaba, T-Mobile, Nvidia, Lemonade, and Compass. But dozens of SoftBank portfolio companies exist, including several smaller, publicly traded companies.
Who is the main investor in SoftBank?
SoftBank’s flagship Vision Fund has several notable investors, but Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is the largest. Other major investors are tech giants like Apple and Qualcomm. SoftBank co-founder Masayoshi Son also is a major investor in SoftBank’s venture activities.
Who are the main shareholders of SoftBank?
SoftBank is a publicly traded company, one of the largest in Japan. Co-founder Masayoshi Son owns 34% of SoftBank, and some of the other major shareholders include The Master Trust Bank of Japan, Custody Bank of Japan, and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM).
Keep in mind that Softbank is a publicly traded company. Although it isn’t directly listed on a major U.S. stock exchange, you can buy shares in over-the-counter (OTC) markets.
What is SoftBank's main business?
SoftBank has a rather large telecommunications business, but it is best known for its activities as an investment manager. It invests in many public and private businesses worldwide, most of which have a technology focus. It is perhaps best known for the SoftBank Vision Fund, one of the world's largest venture capital funds.
