SoftBank eyes investing $1.5B in OpenAI through new tender offer – report
Contributor since / Followers
RapidEye/E+ via Getty Images
OpenAI employees will have the option of cashing out of their shares worth around $1.5B in a tender offer to SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY), two people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
Employees have till December 24 to decide on participating in the tender offer, which is not related to OpenAI’s plans to restructure into a for-profit business.
Current and former employees who were granted restricted stock units at least two years ago and have held the shares for at least that long can participate in the tender offer.
The tender offer was introduced as SoftBank (OTCPK:SFTBY) CEO Masayoshi Son has been seeking a larger stake in the Microsoft-backed ChatGPT maker.
The Japanese conglomerate invested $500M in OpenAI’s $6.6B funding round in October, which valued the company at $157B.
SoftBank’s (OTCPK:SFTBY) Son has big plans for AI, and said last month that he’s stockpiling “tens of billions of dollars” to make the “next big move.”
The investment firm is the majority shareholder of British chip designer Arm Holdings (ARM), and has been investing heavily in the AI space.