NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang on Wednesday said that he passed on an opportunity to acquire full ownership of the chipmaker, now valued at $3.6 trillion when SoftBank Group's (OTC:SFTBF) (OTC:SFTBY) Masayoshi Son offered financial backing years ago.
What Happened: During a candid exchange at Nvidia's AI summit in Tokyo, Huang revealed that Son approached him about a decade ago with an offer to help finance a complete buyout of Nvidia, believing the stock market undervalued the company at the time.
"Now I regret not taking you up," Huang told Son during their public conversation. "That was a great idea."
The conversation took a lighter turn when Son playfully pretended to cry on Huang's shoulder after discussing SoftBank's early exit from Nvidia investments. "We can cry together," Huang joked. "Could you imagine if today, you were the largest shareholder?"
Why It Matters: Nvidia's remarkable ascent has been fueled by the artificial intelligence boom, with the company's chips playing a crucial role in powering AI technologies. The company's stock has surged nearly 200% this year alone, propelling Huang's net worth to $128 billion and making him the 11th richest person globally, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The discussion preceded the announcement of a new partnership between Nvidia and SoftBank to develop Japan's most powerful AI supercomputer, marking a significant development in Japan's AI infrastructure expansion.
Son, who ranks 133rd on Bloomberg's wealth index with a $15.9 billion fortune, has seen his wealth increase by more than $5 billion this year, though that pales in comparison to what might have been had SoftBank retained its earlier Nvidia investments.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
