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Softbank Group CEO Masayoshi Son (Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)
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One guy who has no problem with the OpenAI leadership exodus: Masayoshi Son

SoftBank is back, making a $500 million splash with its OpenAI investment.

Jack Raines

Last Thursday, I wondered whether or not a wave of resignations from key OpenAI executives over the last year, including three last week, would cause investors to hesitate as they considered writing new checks to OpenAI at a $150 billion valuation. At least one investor wasn’t concerned: Masayoshi Son, the founder and CEO of Japanese investing group SoftBank.

The Information reported that SoftBank’s Vision Fund has agreed to invest $500 million in OpenAI’s latest funding round, valuing the company at $150 billion, joining Thrive Capital, which has agreed to invest “more than $1 billion,” as well as Microsoft and other backers.

Son has had an… interesting journey investing in technology companies, to say the least.

Son briefly became the richest man in the world in the late 1990s after betting heavily on tech during the dot-com bubble, but when the bubble burst, he gained the distinction of having lost more money than any other person in history as SoftBank’s stock collapsed 99%. However, Son turned an initial $20 million bet (SoftBank eventually invested a total of $53 million) on Jack Ma’s Alibaba in 2000 into a $72 billion gain by the time the company exited its position in 2023, and in 2020, its 25% stake in Alibaba was worth more than SoftBank’s own market capitalization.

In 2022, SoftBank’s Vision Fund posted a $27.4 billion loss, largely due to poorly-timed investments in different tech companies, such as WeWork, at nosebleed valuations, and in November of that year, Son personally owed his company $4.7 billion. BUT, as with Alibaba, one outsized position saved his portfolio. Softbank acquired British semiconductor company Arm Holdings for $31.4 billion in 2016 and took it public at $51 per share for a $54 billion valuation in 2023, after European regulators blocked an Nvidia acquisition.

Arm is now trading at $138 per share, or a $145 billion market capitalization, thanks to AI tailwinds, and SoftBank still hasn’t sold its 90% stake, which is now worth approximately $130 billion.

Basically the story of SoftBank, over the last 25+ years, has been boom, bust, boom, bust, boom, with Son going all-in on hot markets at sky-high valuations, suffering multi-billion dollar losses when the market turns, and proceeding to make it all back on one well-timed investment. I’m not saying that OpenAI is his 2024 “lose it all” moment, especially considering that he is “only” investing $500 million, and, yes, OpenAI is predicting that its revenue will jump from an estimated $3.7 billion in 2024 to $11.6 billion in 2025 (though let’s not talk about its profitability). But I do think it’s fitting that, while key OpenAI employees are resigning in droves, Apple just pulled out of the funding round, and OpenAI is being valued at the same level as Goldman Sachs, Son is the one new investor ready to lay his money on the line.

Never change, Masayoshi Son.

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Airlines and cruise stocks spike after oil plunges on two-week ceasefire with Iran

Travel stocks are surging Wednesday following President Trump’s announcement on Tuesday evening of a two-week ceasefire with Iran.

West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down about 16% as of 7:00 a.m. ET. Airlines, which have been pounded by higher jet fuel costs for more than a month now, moved in the opposite direction. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines were up more than 10% in premarket trading. Southwest Airlines and JetBlue also rose by high single digits. Three major US airlines (JetBlue, United, and Delta) raised baggage fees in recent days as fuel costs climbed.

Cruise stocks also rallied, with Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean all up more than 7%.

markets

Delta reports better than expected Q1 earnings, surges as oil plummets

Delta Air Lines reported its first-quarter results before markets opened on Wednesday. The carrier’s shares surged 12% in premarket trading.

Delta, which as of today will charge passengers $10 more per checked bag, reported:

  • Adjusted earnings of $0.64 per share, compared to $0.58 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet.

  • Adjusted operating revenue of $14.2 billion, compared to estimates of $14 billion.

Looking ahead, Delta said it expects Q2 earnings per share of between $1 and $1.50, below Wall Street estimates of $1.56 per share — which might be enough to disappoint investors if oil, one of the largest inputs for an airlines' fuel cost base, wasn't tanking. Indeed, West Texas Intermediate crude futures are down more than 16% on Wednesday morning, following President Trump’s comments that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday evening. Delta did not give any full-year earnings guidance in its press release.

Like other carriers, Delta has taken a hit in recent weeks as oil — and jet fuel — spikes amid the war in Iran. Significant delays, cancellations, and rebookings have also battered US airlines.

Delta, which is becoming an increasingly K-shaped airline, saw premium tickets grow 14% year-over-year in the first quarter, compared to 1% growth in main cabin tickets.

markets

Levi Strauss jumps after raising full-year guidance, reporting earnings beat

Levi Strauss rose more than 11% in premarket trading after it beat earnings expectations and raised its full-year guidance.

For its fiscal year 2026, which ends December 1st, the apparel giant now expects to report:

  • Revenue growth between 5.5% to 6.5%, up from 5% to 6%. Analysts polled by FactSet are penciling in about 6.21% sales growth.

  • Adjusted earnings per share between $1.42 to $1.48, up from $1.40 to $1.46, but still a hair below the $1.49 the Street was expecting.

The company also beat expectations for its first quarter, which ended March 1. It reported:

  • Quarterly adjusted earnings per share of $0.42, versus $0.37 expected.

  • Revenue of $1.74 billion, more than 5% ahead of the $1.65 billion that was expected, with direct-to-consumer sales making up the majority of its revenue stream for the quarter.

The stock is up nearly 11% as of 6:35 a.m. ET, having shed roughly ~5% from the start of the year to yesterday's close.

markets

Oil plummets on two-week ceasefire announcement, dragging energy stocks lower

Oil prices are sharply lower Wednesday morning, extending their biggest single-day drop in six years after President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil supply flows.

As of 5:10 a.m. ET, international benchmark Brent crude was down 13.6% at around $94 per barrel, while US WTI crude fell ~16% to $95 per barrel — following its steepest one-day decline since the Russia-Saudi price war in March 2020 and extending the overnight selloff.

A slew of energy stocks are also giving back some of their war-driven gains, with oil-and-gas producers including Occidental Petroleum, Devon Energy, Diamondback Energy, ConocoPhillips, APA Corporation, Coterra Energy, and EOG Resources all down 6-9% in premarket trading.

Oil majors Exxon and Chevron both fell more than 5%, while fuel refiners including Marathon Petroleum, Valero, and Phillips 66 moved 4-6% lower.

Oilfield services names like Halliburton and natural gas producer EQT Corp fell 4-5%, while Chemical makers Dow, Inc. and LyondellBasell, along with fertilizer company CF Industries, are also trading lower. Natural gas exporter Cheniere Energy was also deeply in the red.

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