Sou Hu Cai Jing·2025-11-16 02:28Core Insights - The article discusses the missed investment opportunity by SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son in NVIDIA, highlighting the regret over selling shares before the company's significant growth driven by AI demand [1][2][4]. Group 1: Investment History - SoftBank invested approximately $3.6 billion in NVIDIA in May 2017, acquiring a 4.9% stake, but sold all shares in January 2019 for about $6.9 billion, realizing a profit of approximately $3.3 billion [1][7]. - If SoftBank had retained its shares, their current value would exceed $150 billion [1][7]. - In October 2025, SoftBank sold 32.1 million shares of NVIDIA for approximately $5.83 billion as part of its asset monetization strategy [5][7]. Group 2: Strategic Shifts - SoftBank's recent stock sales are part of a broader strategy to invest heavily in AI projects, including a $22.5 billion investment in OpenAI, which will increase its stake from 4% to 11% [5][8]. - The company aims to maintain financial stability while providing investment opportunities, as stated by CFO Yoshiaki Goto [5]. Group 3: Market Reactions and Analyst Perspectives - Despite SoftBank's stock sales causing a 2% drop in NVIDIA's share price, the company remains involved in several AI projects reliant on NVIDIA technology, such as the $500 billion Stargate data center project [6]. - Analysts suggest that SoftBank's actions should not be interpreted as a negative stance towards NVIDIA but rather as a necessity for funding its AI investments [6]. Group 4: Short Selling Dynamics - NVIDIA has become a significant target for short sellers, with a nominal short position exceeding $48 billion as of October 2025, making it the largest single short position in the U.S. capital markets [16][21]. - The volatility of NVIDIA's stock is largely influenced by the substantial options positions, leading to exaggerated price movements [23]. - Short sellers express concerns over NVIDIA's pricing power, the AI investment return timeline, and potential accounting adjustments affecting depreciation [17][18][19].