Message from SoftBank Vision Funds CEO—SoftBank Group Report 2025

SoftBank Group has long been a champion of the transformative power of AI. Breakthroughs in AI have driven strong performance across private and public markets, reinforcing our conviction in the immense potential of this transformational technology. We have begun to see tangible AI-driven productivity improvements, particularly in sectors such as software, professional services, manufacturing, and logistics. AI’s transformative power also contributed to the performance of technology stocks and drove vast sums of private capital into AI startups – particularly those developing AI models, applications, and infrastructure.

Amid these advances, the global economy experienced modest growth. In the U.S., GDP grew by 2.8% in 2024,^*1 bolstered by a more dovish Federal Reserve, a resilient labor market, and strong consumer spending, even in the face of inflationary pressures. Europe, on the other hand, saw a slow recovery and still faces challenges, while emerging markets, especially India and parts of Southeast Asia, exhibited relative strength, contributing positively to global growth narratives. These divergent regional dynamics provided challenges and opportunities, which we navigated through a disciplined focus on long-term value creation.

Despite mixed macroeconomic conditions, our portfolio demonstrated resilience throughout the fiscal year. Our early conviction in AI has positioned us to benefit from AI-fueled growth. Performance stabilized in fiscal 2024, with steady increases in the total fair value^*2 of our funds, which stood at $157.3 billion^*3 as of fiscal year-end, up from $145.7 billion^*3 at the end of fiscal 2023. We distributed $11.4 billion to LPs during the fiscal year, including $4.9 billion in the March quarter alone. These results reflect the strength of our portfolio companies and our ability to realize value even amid a complex exit environment.

AI remained central to our investment thesis. We made 27 new investments in AI companies during fiscal 2024. These include OpenAI, Databricks, Wiz, Perplexity, DayOne, Glean, and AlphaSense. To diversify our exposure, we deployed capital across every layer of the AI stack—from foundational models to vertical applications and infrastructure.

Among our most significant AI investments, in September 2024, we made our first investment in OpenAI, a company widely recognized for its advancements in AI research and deployment. OpenAI is fast evolving and growing at a rapid pace. In the six months between October 2024 and March 2025, OpenAI’s leading product, ChatGPT, doubled its weekly active users, and its o3 model ranks in first place against other Large Language Models (LLMs).^*4 With a market share of approximately 80%,^*5 ChatGPT is quickly becoming a household name and defining the broader generative AI category.

Since our initial investment, we have participated in multiple funding rounds with OpenAI. As of May 31, 2025, SoftBank Vision Fund 2’s total investment in OpenAI stood at $9.7 billion. We are extraordinarily bullish about OpenAI’s potential—not only as an investment, but as a partner for driving innovation and value across our portfolio. For example, we expect “Cristal intelligence,”^*6 the advanced enterprise AI solution SoftBank Group is developing with OpenAI, to be deployed across Group companies to support existing efforts aimed at accelerating innovation, growth, and operational scale. SoftBank Group is also partnering with OpenAI to build critical AI infrastructure, at scale, in the U.S. and United Arab Emirates through Stargate.

Our ability to stay nimble and strategically seize exit opportunities was also a key driver of our performance in fiscal 2024. Here are a few examples:

Despite muted IPO activity elsewhere around the world, three of our portfolio companies publicly listed in India. Capitalizing on favorable macro conditions and continued strong performance, Ola Electric, FirstCry, and Swiggy all debuted on public markets in fiscal 2024. Notably, Swiggy’s IPO raised $1.3 billion in proceeds, representing the world’s largest technology listing of the year. Including Swiggy, seven of the eight largest tech IPOs in India since 2021 were SoftBank Vision Funds portfolio companies, underscoring our leadership in the region. Other IPO successes at the Funds included Metsera and XtalPi, both of which performed well, supported by compelling equity stories.

On the M&A front, Google’s acquisition of our portfolio company Wiz, the largest in cybersecurity history, is expected to generate robust returns upon completion. We also fully exited SoftBank Vision Fund 1’s position in DoorDash, making it the Fund’s best-performing asset to date with an investment gain of $7.3 billion.

Our strong performance in fiscal 2024 validates our strategy of executing with both discipline and opportunism. As broader uncertainty continues into 2025—evidenced by the weak performance of the “Magnificent Seven” and double-digit declines in the Nasdaq in Q1 of the calendar year—this balance becomes even more critical. Our proven ability to return capital across market cycles has deepened trust with our LPs and reaffirmed our long-term commitment to creating value.

Looking ahead, we continue to operate with pragmatism, discipline, and a clear focus on fundamentals. We are working closely with our portfolio companies to advance these principles within their businesses—97% by fair value now have 12 or more months of cash runway, and 78% are either free cash flow positive or have sufficient cash to reach profitability. This approach applies equally to current holdings and future investments, driven by our unwavering focus on long-term value generation.

Just as the internet reshaped the global economy, we believe AI will redefine the world as we know it. We are still in the early stages of the AI revolution, and history has shown that while market cycles ebb and flow, technological inflection points endure. Our mission remains the same: to identify and invest in the transformative technologies that will shape the future. We look forward to continuing our momentum in fiscal 2025.