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Investing.com -- SoftBank’s decision to dump its entire $5.8 billion Nvidia stake has amplified market anxiety over stretched artificial intelligence valuations and fueled fresh scrutiny of founder Masayoshi Son’s investment strategy, according to a new report from Yardeni Research.
The firm said the move “raises more questions than answers,” noting that the abrupt reversal comes less than a year after Son’s high-profile embrace of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang in Tokyo.
Yardeni Research highlighted how quickly the landscape has shifted amid the “warp-speed arrival of the artificial intelligence boom,” citing everything from the “DeepSeek shock” to Nvidia’s ascent as the first $5 trillion company.
But Son’s sudden exit has added to fears “that AI valuations are well into irrational exuberance territory.”
Yardeni noted that news of Son’s U-turn “erased hundreds of billions of dollars of Nvidia’s market capitalization overnight.”
SoftBank shares have also slipped more than 10% since the sale. The report raised deeper questions about SoftBank’s financial pressures and longstanding missteps.
Yardeni Research pointed to Son’s record as the so-called “Nasdaq whale,” recalling losses tied to WeWork, Wirecard, and other misjudged bets.
That history contrasts sharply with the “Warren Buffett of Japan” moniker he earned after turning a $20 million investment in Jack Ma into a $58 billion Alibaba stake.
Despite the Nvidia sale, Yardeni Research said Son remains “all-in” on AI, with proceeds helping fund a reported $22.5 billion bet on OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
The firm framed the moment as a pivotal test: if the AI boom delivers sustainable profits, “Son will out-Buffett the Oracle of Omaha. If it flops, dot-com-style, SoftBank will fight for its life.”