SoftBank briefly became Japan’s most valuable company. The last time that happened was February 2000.

https://media.thenextweb.com/2026/04/softbank-10b-margin-loan-openai-stake-collateral.avif

TL;DR

SoftBank briefly overtook Toyota as Japan’s most valuable company, the first time since February 2000 when dot-com was about to collapse. Kioxia went from 154th to top three in a year. The AI-or-nothing rally is reshuffling Japan Inc at alarming speed.

SoftBank knocked Toyota off its perch as Japan’s most valuable company last week, after a stock rally inflated the conglomerate’s market capitalisation by more than $120 billion in six months. Three days later, Toyota reclaimed the top spot.

The last time SoftBank held that position was February 2000, when the dot-com bubble was on the cusp of collapse. Within a year, SoftBank’s shares had fallen roughly 90%.

The reshuffle in numbers

Kioxia, the NAND flash memory maker, was Japan’s 154th largest company a year ago. It now sits firmly in the top three, having leapfrogged Nintendo, Sony, Panasonic, and Canon on the back of surging AI-driven memory demand.

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