Details
💰 Investment Size: SoftBank bought Intel shares worth 2 billion USD at 23 USD per share. This equals about 2 percent of the company and makes SoftBank its sixth-largest investor.
📉 Intel’s Position: The chipmaker lost around 60 percent of its market value in 2024 after being overtaken in AI by Nvidia and others. So far in 2025, the stock has gained about 18 percent.
👤 Management Change: Since March, Lip-Bu Tan has been leading the company. Under his leadership, divisions have been closed and jobs cut.
🏛 Political Context: According to media reports, the US government is considering taking up to a 10 percent stake itself. President Trump recently criticized Intel CEO Tan publicly and demanded his resignation.
Big Picture
SoftBank is one of the world’s most aggressive tech investors, with stakes in Arm, Ampere, and OpenAI embedding it deeply in the AI ecosystem.The Intel investment signals confidence in the company’s role in US chip production. For Intel, the stake provides additional backing at a time of political tensions and tough market conditions.
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