OpenAI's IPO is imminent; SoftBank hits a record high.

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OpenAI and SB Energy are on track for listing, SoftBank's stock price hit a record high, and its market value surpassed 40 trillion yen.

On Monday, SoftBank's stock price rose 4.6% in the Japanese stock market. Since May 20, SoftBank has gained 40%, with its market value breaking through 40 trillion yen (approximately $252 billion).

This round of increases has narrowed the gap with Toyota Motor Corporation, the highest-valued company in Japan, to just 18%. If treasury shares are excluded, SoftBank's market value has surpassed Toyota for the first time since 2000.

Mentioned by WallstreetCN, Japanese SoftBank Group, which holds investments in OpenAI, may submit an IPO application as early as this week, with the IPO completed in September and a target valuation exceeding $1 trillion.

Meanwhile, SoftBank's power infrastructure subsidiary SB Energy also announced plans to confidentially submit a listing application in the United States, further igniting market enthusiasm.

OpenAI IPO Expectations are the Core Driver

SoftBank is one of the largest shareholders of OpenAI and has pledged an additional $20 billion investment, bringing its total investment close to $65 billion.

Based on this calculation, it will hold about 13% of OpenAI’s shares by October.

Takashi Nakagawa, senior analyst at Tokai Tokyo Intelligence Research Institute, said the market is "extremely excited" at the possibility that the long-awaited OpenAI IPO may be imminent.

He pointed out that this move will help improve the visibility of opaque valuations in the current AI field. In SoftBank’s investment portfolio, a large proportion of AI companies are not publicly listed.

However, Nakagawa also cautioned:

The current stock price movement is purely based on expectations. I would rather wait to see how OpenAI’s market cap stabilizes after it goes public.

SB Energy, the Key Piece of Data Center Deployment

SB Energy focuses on power generation and grid management, and is the core pillar of SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son’s grand plan to build large-scale data centers in the United States.

Over the past year, this subsidiary has raised more than $1.8 billion from SoftBank, OpenAI, and Ares Management.

The planned U.S. listing of SB Energy not only provides SoftBank with another potential value release opportunity, but also makes its strategic synergy with OpenAI more tangible. Together, the two form a dual-driving force for SoftBank in the AI infrastructure track.

SoftBank enjoys great popularity among Japanese retail investors and holds significant weight in the Nikkei 225 benchmark index.

Its investment portfolio includes major holdings such as ByteDance and Coupang. Positive news about these companies has a direct transmission effect on SoftBank's share price.

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