SoftBank CEO admits failing to deliver returns to PIF

SPA

• PIF part of SoftBank’s Vision Fund
• SoftBank has not delivered, says CEO
• Vision Fund 1 lost $21.6bn since launch

Japan’s SoftBank Group has not “fully delivered” the expected returns to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, CEO Masayoshi Son has said.

“I haven’t still given him enough return. I still owe him,” Bloomberg reported, quoting Son at a panel discussion at a conference staged by Saudi Arabia’s FII Institute in Miami.

In October 2016 SoftBank announced the launch of its Vision Fund with the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund as a founding investor. Contrary to its name, SoftBank is not a bank but a telecom and information technology investor.

This month, SoftBank Group reported a net loss of 369.2 billion yen ($2.4 billion) for the October-December quarter of 2024. The losses were driven by valuation losses in South Korea’s ecommerce platform Coupang, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global and AutoStore Holdings.

Similarly, the Vision Fund recorded a loss of 352.7 billion yen in the same quarter, ending two consecutive profitable quarters.

More broadly, Vision Fund 1 has generated a gross gain of $21.6 billion from inception, while Vision Fund 2 has lost $22.2 billion since its launch in 2019, SoftBank’s financial statement shows.

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SoftBank is also a Vision Fund investor and both entities often co-invest in the same companies, which has led to questions about conflict of interest. Abu Dhabi was another early Vision Fund investor, committing $15 billion.

The PIF did not put new money into SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, instead only reinvesting profits from the first iteration, according to media reports.

SoftBank’s Vision funds have generated a negative return for investors since its inception in 2016, AGBI reported last October, quoting Atul Goyal, managing director of equity research at Jefferies & Co in Singapore.