SoftBank Group Corp. saw its shares surge nearly 20% in early Thursday trading on the Tokyo market, driven by news that OpenAI is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO). OpenAI is reportedly set to file its IPO application within weeks, aiming for a market debut this autumn. SoftBank holds approximately a 13% stake in OpenAI, with cumulative investments exceeding $64.6 billion.
Concurrently, SB Energy Corp., another SoftBank-backed subsidiary focused on developing energy infrastructure for data centers, announced on Wednesday its intention to confidentially submit a draft registration statement to regulators for a proposed U.S. IPO. Founded in 2011, SB Energy initially centered its business on renewable energy development and energy storage. In recent years, it has strategically expanded into the development, ownership, and operation of data centers, creating a synergistic model that combines energy and computing infrastructure. The company is currently building multiple data center campuses to meet the rapidly growing power and computing demands of AI workloads for companies like OpenAI.
SoftBank maintains a close capital alliance with OpenAI and is one of its largest shareholders. As of December 2025, SoftBank held approximately an 11% stake in OpenAI. In February 2026, SoftBank further committed to an additional $30 billion investment in OpenAI, expected to be completed in tranches within the year. Upon completion, its total committed investment will reach approximately $64.6 billion, raising its stake to around 13%. By the end of March 2026, SoftBank had recorded approximately $45 billion in cumulative unrealized gains from its OpenAI investment.
SoftBank's Vision Fund recorded investment gains of about ¥6.7 trillion (approximately $43 billion) in the previous fiscal year, largely due to the soaring valuation of its OpenAI investment. This contributed to a 15-fold increase in the group's quarterly net profit.
According to informed sources, OpenAI plans to submit its IPO application in the coming weeks, targeting a formal listing at some point this autumn. Its valuation could reach $852 billion or higher, positioning it to be one of the largest IPOs in technology history. The sources added that OpenAI has hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as lead underwriters and may have confidentially filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as early as this week.
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