Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has expressed his regret over declining a proposal from SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son to help him finance a full acquisition of Nvidia nearly 10 years ago. Speaking at the Nvidia AI Summit in Japan on November 13, Huang reflected on the missed opportunity during a fireside chat with Son, who was SoftBank’s chairman and CEO.

“Masa (Masayoshi) said, ‘Jensen, the market doesn’t understand the value of Nvidia. Your future is incredible, but the market doesn’t get it,'” Huang said. Seeing the promise in Nvidia and the future of AI, Son offered to lend Huang the money needed to acquire the company outright.

At the time of Son’s offer, SoftBank held a 5 per cent stake in Nvidia, recognising its future potential in the emerging field of artificial intelligence (AI). Son eventually sold the stake — then worth less than $4 billion — amid market pressures. Today, that same shareholding would be valued at around $160 billion, making it a remarkable missed opportunity even by SoftBank’s own standards, where Son’s investments have typically generated massive returns, including in Alibaba.

The conversation also highlighted Nvidia and SoftBank’s plans to collaborate on building Japan’s first AI infrastructure. The partnership will bring together Japan’s cloud leader SoftBank Corp, alongside other technology players such as GMO Internet Group, Highreso, KDDI, Rutilea, and SAKURA Internet, to transform industries including robotics, healthcare, automotive, and telecom across Japan.

https://www.news18.com/amp/business/i-regret-it-nvidias-jensen-huang-reflects-on-turning-down-masayoshi-sons-help-to-acquire-full-tech-company-9119124.html