Son says he will not ride highs and lows over top market value, speeds up AI investment in France

2026-06-01

SoftBank Group (SBG) Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son said on the 1st in Paris in an interview with Nikkei and others that he could not be elated or discouraged by the company’s market capitalisation ranking first in Japan that day, adding: 'I want to stay focused and dedicate myself to growth.'

NAV of 65 trillion yen, stock still seen as cheap

SBG places importance on net asset value (NAV), which subtracts net interest-bearing debt from the value of its shareholdings. Son said the NAV as of the 1st reached 65 trillion yen, and indicated that the day’s market capitalisation of about 49 trillion yen was at least 30% lower.

Plans investment of up to 75 billion euros in France

On May 31, SBG announced that it will invest up to 75 billion euros, or about 14 trillion yen, to build an artificial intelligence (AI) data centre in France. Son held a press conference in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron on the 1st and said, 'France can become an export base for AI-powered robots and other products,' stressing its potential as a manufacturing base. Macron said the data centre was expected to begin full-scale operations by the end of 2030.

First AI base in Europe

The new data centre will be SBG’s first AI base in Europe. As the first phase, it will invest 45 billion euros over the next five years and develop sites in Dunkirk and Bousquet, northern France, among others. Its power reception capacity will total more than 3 gigawatts, with plans to expand ultimately to 5 gigawatts. The total investment is expected to reach 75 billion euros.

Macron has positioned AI as a pillar of Europe’s industrial revival, including by holding an AI summit in Paris in 2025. Data centre operations will require large amounts of electricity. Unlike the previous government of Francois Hollande, which aimed to reduce dependence on nuclear power, Macron is pursuing an expansion of nuclear power plants and is exporting electricity to neighbouring European countries, using stable supply from a combination of nuclear, solar and wind power as a strength.

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