Hyundai Buys Out SoftBank For 100% Of Boston Dynamics
Hyundai Motor Group is acquiring SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for $325 million, giving the Korean automaker full ownership of the maker of Atlas and Spot just as the humanoid robot race enters mass production.
Key Takeaways
Hyundai Motor Group is buying SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for $325 million, giving it 100% ownership; a Hyundai board meeting on June 22 in Seoul was expected to approve the deal.
The purchase closes out SoftBank's put option, negotiated when Hyundai bought 80% for roughly $880 million in 2021 at a $1.1 billion valuation, which allowed SoftBank to exit by June 2026.
Full ownership lets Hyundai align Boston Dynamics' roadmap with its factories, including a commitment to deploy 25,000 Atlas humanoid robots at US plants from 2028 and a deepened NVIDIA physical AI alliance.
Korean bankers say the deal likely accelerates a Boston Dynamics Nasdaq IPO, which Hyundai leadership sees as a way to fund inheritance taxes tied to group governance restructuring.
Korea Investment and Securities floated Samsung Electronics as a possible strategic minority investor in an IPO, a report Samsung has publicly dismissed.
Kaan Tınmaz
Hyundai Motor Group is acquiring SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for $325 million, taking the Waltham-based maker of the Atlas humanoid and Spot quadruped robots to full ownership just as the humanoid robot race enters mass production. A Hyundai board meeting scheduled for June 22 in Seoul was expected to formally approve the purchase.
End Of A Five-Year Co-Ownership Split
Hyundai paid roughly $880 million in 2021 for an 80% stake, valuing Boston Dynamics at about $1.1 billion at the time. SoftBank kept 20% and negotiated a put option letting it exit by June 2026. That put option is now being exercised. SoftBank walks away with the same headline figure that Hyundai's founder Chung Euisun personally paid for a 20% slice in 2020, closing a chapter in which two very different owners tried to align on where a robotics business should sit inside a car company.
Why Full Ownership Matters Now
Removing the minority-stake put option lets Hyundai align Boston Dynamics' roadmap directly with the automaker's factory needs. Hyundai has already committed to deploying 25,000 Atlas humanoid robots across its US plants from 2028, priced below two years' worth of US manufacturing payroll. It has also deepened its alliance with NVIDIA to put Atlas onto the factory floor as a physical AI platform, and this month put Atlas in a World Cup match-ball stunt at Brazil versus Norway.
Sets Up A Nasdaq IPO Path
Korean bankers say the deal is likely to accelerate a Boston Dynamics IPO, which Hyundai's leadership sees as a way to fund inheritance taxes tied to the group's corporate governance restructuring. A public listing would put a pure-play humanoid robotics business back on US markets shortly after Agility Robotics' $2.5 billion Churchill Capital SPAC deal, and could invite Samsung Electronics as a strategic minority investor, according to a scenario floated by Korea Investment and Securities. Samsung has publicly dismissed the report.
Reporting based on coverage from Reuters, KED Global and Gigazine.
How much is Hyundai paying for full ownership of Boston Dynamics?
Hyundai is paying $325 million for SoftBank's remaining 9.65% stake, taking its ownership of Boston Dynamics to 100%.
Why is SoftBank selling its Boston Dynamics stake now?
SoftBank is exercising a put option negotiated in the 2021 deal, when Hyundai bought 80% for about $880 million; the option allowed SoftBank to exit by June 2026.
What does full ownership mean for Boston Dynamics' future?
It removes the minority-stake put option, letting Hyundai align Boston Dynamics directly with its factory needs, including deploying 25,000 Atlas humanoids at US plants from 2028, and it likely accelerates a Nasdaq IPO.
Is Samsung investing in Boston Dynamics?
Korea Investment and Securities floated a scenario where Samsung Electronics could join a Boston Dynamics IPO as a strategic minority investor, but Samsung has publicly dismissed the report.
