Topline
Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s fortune has dropped by more than $20 billion in the past week, forcing him to cede the briefly held title of Asia’s richest person and drop out of the top 25 on the list of the world’s richest people, as shares of his company SoftBank were hit by a major selloff.
Masayoshi Son ceded the title of Asia’s richest person last week.
AFP or licensors
Key Facts
Son’s current net worth is $75.3 billion, down nearly 9% over the past 24 hours, as SoftBank’s shares have dropped more than 14% to ¥6,374 ($39.71) from last week’s closing price.
SoftBank’s shares soared in recent weeks amid optimism over AI, and the bull run put SoftBank, Japan’s most valuable company, ahead of carmaker Toyota.
The surge in SoftBank’s shares also helped Son briefly overtake Indian billionaires Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani to become the richest person in Asia, with his net worth touching $97 billion.
Son’s fortune, however, has since dropped by nearly $22 billion and he has fallen in Forbes’ real-time rankings behind both Adani and Ambani.
The Japanese billionaire also slipped to Number 26 on the Real-Time Billionaires’ list of the world’s richest on Thursday, behind Julia Koch.
What Prompted The SoftBank Selloff?
The first slump in SoftBank’s stock price came on Monday amid a broader meltdown in Asian stocks, as they felt the aftershocks of Friday’s tech sell-off in the U.S., which caused a 4% drop in the Nasdaq index. The tech investment firm’s shares took a hit again on Wednesday and Thursday, after Bloomberg reported that SoftBank’s talks with creditors to raise $6 billion in margin loans backed by its existing stake in OpenAI had stalled. The report said that some creditors had raised concerns about lending to SoftBank based on the valuation of an unlisted company. There’s also been concerns about SoftBank’s commitment to pour $60 billion into OpenAI—which would grant it a 13% stake in the ChatGPT-maker—as it faces intense competition from rival Anthropic.
tangent
Earlier this week, OpenAI confidentially filed its S-1 form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, marking the first formal step in its plan to go public. The company confirmed the filing in a statement and said it is undecided on when the IPO will take place, warning that it may “be a while.” Reuters reported that OpenAI was targeting a debut valuation close to $1 trillion. The OpenAI S-1 filing came just a week after rival Anthropic also confidentially filed for an IPO.
surprising fact
Late last week, Indian billionaire Ambani overtook Son to reclaim the title of Asia’s richest person. However, earlier this week, he dropped the title to fellow Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose fortune has soared since the Trump administration dropped fraud charges brought against him by the previous administration.
further reading
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Becomes Asia’s Richest Person Amid AI Boom (Forbes)