Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

According to news in the morning of November 18, Beijing time, it is reported that Softbank Corp. Group is losing more and more because of its unfavorable investment in science and technology, and Masayoshi Son owes the company nearly 5 billion US dollars.

According to an analysis of Softbank Corp. 's latest document, the billionaire's personal debt is ballooning as Softbank Corp., the world's largest technology investor, has been hit by plummeting valuations of technology stocks and private companies over the past year.

The 65-year-old Softbank Corp. chief executive and founder said last week that he would retire from the group's day-to-day operations. Son said his main focus would be Arm, the company's UK chip subsidiary. The technology group had previously reported a quarterly investment loss of $10 billion.

Softbank Corp. 's losses on various investment projects are expanding, adding billions of dollars to son's debt on technology bets. This is because Softbank Corp. has provided him with funds to invest in his technology-related funds, which he has not been obliged to repay for many years.

Son's 17.25 per cent stake in the second phase of Softbank Corp. 's $56 billion vision fund was also completely erased by the end of September, compared with a valuation of just $682 million last quarter. His stake in the vehicle climbed to $2.8 billion at the end of 2021, when the high valuation of start-ups enabled Softbank Corp. to sell shares in the public offerings of portfolio companies such as WeWork and AutoStore.

Softbank Corp. has yet to recover the $2.8 billion owed by son's stake in the fund. Softbank Corp. had previously deducted the value of his equity from the amount he owed to the group, meaning his equity would be worth just $4 million at the end of 2021.

In a similar arrangement for Softbank Corp. 's Latin American fund, son still owes Softbank Corp. $669 million, which supports start-ups across the South American continent, but if the value of his equity in the fund is taken into account, this amount will be reduced to $252 million.

Softbank Corp. confirmed that if losses from SB Northstar, the group's short-lived internal hedge fund, are factored in, the total amount owed by the Japanese executive to his company is now $4.7 billion.

Son raised questions about Softbank Corp. 's growing debt, while Softbank Corp. shareholders questioned his decision to significantly increase the pace of share buybacks in recent weeks, pushing its share price to a 12-month high earlier this month. despite heavy losses in its vision fund, its share price remains high.

Son must personally bear the 1/3 loss of Northstar, which became famous for its "Nasdaq Whale" trading of US technology stocks in 2020. As the group continued to liquidate its investments, the total investment loss of the stock trading unit increased to nearly $6 billion by the end of September.

If the investment of Softbank Corp. 's internal hedge fund pays off, Son will get a 1/3 return. Similarly, if the second phase of the Vision Fund makes a profit on its investment in private technology companies, then the founder of Softbank Corp. can make a huge profit without investing any upfront funds. On the contrary, if the investment fails, the net worth of one of Japan's richest men will be reduced by billions of dollars.

In Softbank Corp. 's first $100 billion vision fund, they received tens of billions of dollars from Middle East sovereign wealth funds. By contrast, its second major technology investment vehicle has no outside backers, and the only investors are Softbank Corp. and Masayoshi son, which is partly held in the form of preferred shares, ranking ahead of its founders.

In the Vision Fund II and Latin American funds, son has mortgaged his shares in the fund and part of his stake in Softbank Corp. to the company as security for the money he owes the company. In addition, the billionaire founder offered a personal guarantee for unpaid bills.

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