SoftBank ends Toyota's more than 20-year run as Japan's biggest company by market capitalization.

SoftBank Ends Toyota's Long Market Reign The shift ended Toyota's more than 20-year run as Japan's biggest company by market capitalization and underscored how global investors are rewarding companies tied to AI infrastructure, chips and large technology platforms. Toyota had held the top slot since 2003, when it passed telecoms group NTT Docomo. SoftBank's market value reached about 47.2 trillion yen, or roughly $296 billion, pulling ahead of Toyota's 45.7 trillion yen, or about $287 billion, after Toyota shares fell 4.8%. The crossover was confirmed during the Tokyo Stock Exchange's mid-session trading. AI Rally Pushes Nikkei To Record The tech-heavy Nikkei 225 rose more than 0.91% Monday at the time of writing, moving above 67,000 for the first time and taking its gain this year to more than 29%. The broader Topix index was roughly flat by lunchtime, though still up about 13% in 2026. SoftBank shares are up nearly 73% this year and hit another record Monday, rising more than 8% after the company pledged to invest up to 75 billion euros, or about $87.45 billion, in a network of AI computing clusters in France. Toyota Slips As AI Bets Surge Toyota's market value stood just above 48 trillion yen, or about $301.05 billion, at Friday's close before falling Monday to below 46 trillion yen, or about $288.52 billion. Together, Tesla and BYD are worth more than five times the combined market value of those major Japanese automakers, underscoring how investors continue to place a premium on electric vehicles, software and battery supply chains. Photo courtesy: Shutterstock

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