Masayoshi Son's acquisition of Arm for $32 billion in 2016 was considered his most aggressive gamble at the time. Son viewed the UK chip designer as his "crystal ball," believing it would offer insights into the future of computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things. He aimed to transition SoftBank into a global asset manager, with the Arm deal central to this strategy.
Initially, Arm's performance under SoftBank's ownership reportedly did not thrive, and the SoftBank Vision Fund, which included a portion of Arm, saw its $75 billion investment in 83 startups valued at only $76.4 billion in November of an unspecified year, indicating unremarkable returns during an initial period. This led some to question the efficacy of Son's "crystal ball.
However, the strategy has gained renewed prescience with the rise of AI. Shares in Arm have surged since SoftBank sold approximately 10% in a 2023 initial public offering, with the company now valued at roughly $140 billion. This increase is attributed to investor hopes that Arm will benefit from the growing demand for its chip architecture blueprints in data centers and other AI-related applications. Despite early doubts, the Arm acquisition is now seen by some as a prescient move by Son, even though he previously missed out on a much steeper rise in Nvidia's stock, selling his shares for $3.6 billion in 2019, a stake that would be worth around $165 billion today.
