Jump to content

SoftBank Group

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from ソフトバンク)
"SoftBank" redirects here. For the venture capital fund, see SoftBank Vision Fund. For the Japanese professional baseball team, see Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.
"J-Phone" redirects here. Not to be confused with iPhone.

SoftBank Group Corp.
Native name
ソフトバンクグループ株式会社
SofutoBanku Gurūpu Kabushiki gaisha
Company typePublic KK
ISINJP3436100006
IndustryConglomerate
Founded3 September 1981; 43 years ago (1981-09-03)
FounderMasayoshi Son
HeadquartersTokyo PortCity Takeshiba,
Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
,
Japan
Key people
Masayoshi Son
(Chairman and CEO)
Products
RevenueIncrease ¥6.76 trillion (2023)[1]
Increase ¥57.8 billion (2023)[1]
Increase ¥209.2 billion (2023)[1]
AUMIncrease ¥347.7 billion (2023)[2]
Total assetsIncrease ¥46.72 trillion (2023)[1]
Total equityIncrease ¥13.24 trillion (2023)[1]
OwnerMasayoshi Son (29.16%)
Number of employees
Increase 65,352 (2023)[2]
Subsidiaries
ASN
Websitegroup.softbank

SoftBank Group Corp. (ソフトバンクグループ株式会社, SofutoBanku Gurūpu Kabushiki gaisha) is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan which focuses on investment management.[3] The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a multitude of markets and industries ranging from the internet to automation.[4] With over $100 billion in capital at its onset, SoftBank's Vision Fund is the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund. Fund investors included sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East.[5][6][7]

The company is known for the leadership of its controversial[8][9][10][11] founder and largest shareholder Masayoshi Son.[12][13][14] Its investee companies, subsidiaries and divisions, including several unprofitable unicorns,[15][16] operate in robotics, artificial intelligence, software, logistics, transportation, biotechnology, robotic process automation, proptech, real estate, hospitality, broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, information technology, finance, media and marketing, and other areas.[17] Among its most internationally recognizable current stockholdings are stakes in Arm[18] (semiconductors), Alibaba[19] (e-commerce), OYO Rooms[20] (hospitality), WeWork[21] (coworking) and Deutsche Telekom[22] (telecommunications). SoftBank Corporation, its spun-out affiliate and former flagship business, is the third-largest wireless carrier in Japan, with 45.621 million subscribers as of March 2021.[23]

SoftBank was ranked in the 2017 Forbes Global 2000 list as the 36th largest public company in the world[24] and the second-largest publicly traded company in Japan after Toyota.[25]

The logo of SoftBank is based on the flag of the Kaientai, a naval trading company founded in 1865, near the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, by Sakamoto Ryōma.[26]

Although SoftBank does not affiliate itself to any traditional keiretsu, it has close ties with Mizuho Financial Group, its primary lender.[27]

History

[edit]

Founding and early years

[edit]

SoftBank was founded in September 1981 as SOFTBANK Corp by then-24-year-old Masayoshi Son, initially as a software distributor. The company entered the publishing business in May 1982 with the launches of the Oh! PC and Oh! MZ magazines, about NEC and Sharp computers respectively.[28] Oh!PC had a circulation of 140,000 copies by 1989.[29] It would go on to become Japan's largest publisher of computer and technology magazines and trade shows.

In 1994, the company went public, valued at $3 billion.[29] In September 1995, SoftBank agreed to purchase US-based Ziff Davis publishing for $2.1 billion.[30]

1995–2009 expansion

[edit]

In the 1990s, Son made large investments in Internet services and the so-called new economy in general. SoftBank bought COMDEX from The Interface Group on 1 April 1995 for $800 million and ZDI on 29 February 1996.[31][32] SoftBank sold COMDEX to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis, in 2001.[33] In 1996, SoftBank formed a joint venture with American internet company Yahoo!, creating Yahoo! Japan (now LY Corporation), which would become a dominant site in the country.[34]

In another highly publicized investment, SoftBank bought 80% of memory manufacturers Kingston Technology in 1996. When the owners-founders (John Tu and David Sun) announced plans to distribute $100,000,000 of the $1.5B windfall to Kingston employees, it created a very high-profile media stir that lasted well through the 1996 Christmas season; it was on all US networks, as well as international media. A few years later, in 1999, after the market for memory softened substantially, SoftBank sold the company back at a loss to the original owners for about a third of the original price.[35]

In October 1999, SoftBank became a holding company.[36] In 2000, SoftBank made its most successful investment – $20 million to a then-fledgling Chinese Internet venture called Alibaba.[37] This investment turned into $60 billion when Alibaba went public in September 2014.[38][39]

In February 2000, SoftBank Ventures Asia was founded under the leadership of Masayoshi Son to focus on investment in Korean-based Internet companies.[40]

SoftBank store in Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan

On 28 January 2005, SoftBank became the owner of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, a Nippon Professional Baseball team. On 17 March 2006, SoftBank announced its agreement to buy Vodafone Japan, giving it a stake in Japan's $78 billion mobile markets. In April 2006, SoftBank purchased a 23% stake in Betfair, an Internet betting exchange. In August 2006, SoftBank sold all its shares of SBI Group to a subsidiary of SBI's holding company, making SBI independent. On 1 October 2006, Vodafone Japan changed its corporate name and service brand name to "SoftBank Mobile" and "SoftBank" respectively.[41]

On 28 January 2008, it was announced that SoftBank and Tiffany & Co. collaborated in making a limited 10 model-only phone. This phone contains more than 400 platinum diamonds, totaling more than 20 carats. The cost is said to be more than 100,000,000 yen.[42]

2010–2016 acquisitions

[edit]

On 3 February 2010, SoftBank acquired 13.7% in Ustream.[43] On 1 October 2010, Ayumi Hamasaki became the commercial spokesperson.[44]

On 3 October 2012, the takeover of competitor eAccess was announced.[45] On 1 July 2013, SoftBank announced that Willcom was a wholly-owned subsidiary, after the termination of rehabilitation proceedings. eAccess was merged with Willcom, which resulted in a new subsidiary and brand from Yahoo! Japan, Ymobile Corporation.[46]

On 15 October 2012, SoftBank announced plans to take control of American Sprint Nextel by purchasing a 70% stake for $20 billion.[47] On 6 July 2013, the United States Federal Communications Commission approved SoftBank's acquisition for $22.2 billion for a 78% ownership interest in Sprint.[48] On 6 August 2013, SoftBank bought 2% more shares of Sprint Corporation, increasing its ownership stake to 80%.

SoftBank store in Sendai, with decorations for the Tanabata

In October 2013, SoftBank acquired a 51% stake in Supercell for a reported $2.1 billion. Later on 25 October 2014, they invested $210 million in OlaCabs,[49] $627 million in Snapdeal with a 30% stake in the company on 28 October 2014, and a $100 million investment in Housing.com for a 30% stake in November 2014.[50]

In 2013, the company bought a controlling stake in French company Aldebaran Robotics, which was rebranded SoftBank Robotics. In 2014, teams from both companies co-designed Pepper, a humanoid robot. In 2015, SoftBank increased its stake to 95%.[51][52]

In 2015, SoftBank acquired DramaFever.[53] In May 2015, Masayoshi Son said he would appoint Nikesh Arora, a former Google executive, as Representative Director and President of SoftBank. Arora had been heading SoftBank's investment arm.[54] On 1 June 2015, SoftBank acquired an additional 22.7% stake in Supercell, increasing its total stake to 73.2% and becoming the sole external shareholder of the company.[55] In June 2015, SoftBank announced it would invest US$1 billion in the Korean e-commerce website Coupang as part of its overseas expansion plans.[56]

In July 2015, SoftBank announced the renaming of the company from SoftBank Corp to SoftBank Group Corp. Meanwhile, SoftBank Mobile was renamed to SoftBank Corp, the now-former name of the company as a whole.[57] On 16 February 2016, SoftBank announced they would repurchase a record 14.2% of shares, valued at $4.4bn, to boost investor confidence.[58] On 31 March 2016, they announced they would sell shares worth $7.9 billion of their stake in Alibaba Group. On 21 June 2016, SoftBank sold its 84% stake in Supercell for a reported US$7.3 billion to Tencent.[59] On 3 June 2016, Softbank agreed to sell most of its stake in GungHo Online Entertainment (approximately 23.47%) for about $685 million, ending Softbank's majority ownership.[60][61][62] The offer was completed by 22 June.[63][64]

In June 2016, Nikesh Arora stepped down amidst pressure from investors. Board member Ron Fisher and Baer Capital Partners founder Alok Sama undertook Arora's overseas investment duties.[65] One month later,[66] Son announced the company's largest deal ever to buy British chip designer Arm Holdings for more than US$32 billion.[67][68] This acquisition was completed on 5 September 2016.[69]

On 6 December 2016, after meeting with the then United States President-elect Donald Trump, chief executive Masayoshi Son announced SoftBank would be investing US$50 billion in the United States toward businesses creating 50,000 new jobs.[70][71][72]

2017–2018

[edit]

On 30 January 2017, the Wall Street Journal wrote that SoftBank Group was "weighing an investment of well over $1 billion in shared-office space company WeWork, in what could be among the first deals from its new $100 billion technology fund."[73] On 20 March, SoftBank bought a $300m stake in WeWork.[74] On 14 February 2017, SoftBank Group agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.3 billion.[66] In February 2017, it was announced that Social Finance Inc. was close to raising $500 million from an investor group led by Silver Lake, including Softbank.[75] On 28 March 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank Group Corporation had approached Didi Chuxing Technology Co. about investing $6 billion to help the ride-hailing firm expand in self-driving car technologies, with the bulk of the money to come from SoftBank's planned $100 billion Vision Fund.[76]

On 18 May 2017, it was reported that Softbank had completed its single largest investment in India to date, investing $1.4 billion in Paytm. At the time, Softbank was also working on a takeover of Snapdeal by Flipkart.[77] On 10 August 2017, Softbank invested $2.5 billion in Flipkart.[78]

On 27 May 2017, Softbank and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), the kingdom's main sovereign wealth fund, partnered to create the Softbank Vision Fund, the world's largest private equity fund with a capital of $93 billion.[79] Softbank Group contributed $28 billion to the investment fund, of which $8.2 billion came from the sale of approximately 25% of British multinational Arm Holdings shares.[80] Saudi Arabia is the principal investor in the fund, its Public Investment Fund (PIF) agreed to inject $45 billion into the Vision Fund over 5 years, becoming its largest investor.[81] Other investors include Apple, Qualcomm, Arm, Foxconn, Sharp, Larry Ellison and Mubadala.[82] The latter agreed to invest $15 billion dollars in the fund, targeting artificial intelligence, communications infrastructure, financial technology, consumer internet, mobile computing and robotics.[83] Through Softbank Vision Fund, CEO Masayoshi Son explained his intent to invest in all companies developing technologies emphasizing global artificial intelligence, including sectors such as finance or transportation.[84] In July 2019, SoftBank announced creating of a "Vision Fund 2", excluding participation from the Saudi Arabia government and including investors Apple, Foxconn, Microsoft and others. The fund is reported to focus on AI-based technology and invest approximately $108 billion, including $38 billion of its own funds.[85] In February 2020, however, a report from Wall Street Journal stated the fund would only up with less than half of that capital.[86]

On 8 June 2017, Alphabet Inc. announced the sale of Boston Dynamics (robotics companies whose products include BigDog) to SoftBank Group for an undisclosed sum.[87] On 25 August 2017, SoftBank finalized a $4.4 billion investment in WeWork.[88] On 24 October 2017, Son announced the group would collaborate with Saudi Arabia to develop Neom, the new high-tech business and industrial city of the Saudi Kingdom.[89] On 14 November 2017, Softbank agreed to invest $10 billion into Uber.[90] On 29 December 2017, it was reported that a SoftBank-led consortium had invested $9 billion into Uber. The deal, to close in January 2018, would leave SoftBank as Uber's biggest shareholder, with a 15 percent stake.[91] The deal was secured after Uber shareholders voted to "sell their shares to the Japanese conglomerate at a discounted price." Beyond SoftBank, consortium members included Dragoneer, Tencent, TPG and Sequoia.[92]

On 14 January 2018, Softbank's Vision Fund announced to invest $560 million in the German used-car sales portal Auto1.[93] On 1 March 2018, Softbank's Vision Fund led a $535 million investment in DoorDash.[94] In May 2018, CEO Masayoshi Son revealed during an earnings presentation that Walmart had reached a deal to buy Flipkart.[95] On 27 September 2018, Softbank announced the investment of $400 Million in Home-Selling Startup Opendoor.[96]

In September 2018, Saudi government officials announced that a planned $200 billion project with SoftBank Group to build the world's biggest solar-power-generation project would be put on hold.[97] In November 2018, SoftBank announced it would make an IPO of SoftBank Corp., the telecommunications operator, with the cost of share of $13.22 (which is 1,500 yen). The offer of the shares was going to last for a month. Regarding the number of shares, the total value of SoftBank Corp. will reach $21.15 billion, which would be the second-largest IPO ever made.[98]

In December 2018, SoftBank invested in ParkJockey. The startup attempts to monetize parking lots. After the investment round, general valuation of the ParkJourney reached $1 billion.[99]

In December 2018, SoftBank announced its intention to invest $1 billion on ride-hailing startup Grab. Some sources said that the total amount of investment could reach $1.5 billion.[100]

2019–2021

[edit]

On September 25, 2019, Softbank Robotics launched Whiz robotic vacuum cleaner in Singapore.[101]

In September 2019, WeWork's IPO was canceled.[102]

In December 2019, Softbank sold its interest in dog-walking startup Wag at a loss.[103] Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing's CEO and Japan's richest man at the time, left the board after 18 years.[104]

In January 2020, multiple Softbank-funded startups started cutting their staff, including Getaround, Oyo, Rappi, Katerra and Zume.[105] In February 2020, Elliott Management, an activist hedge fund, bought a $2.5 billion stake in Softbank and pushed for restructuring and more transparency, especially regarding its Vision Fund.[106] Consequently, plans for a second Vision Fund were pushed back.[107]

In November 2019, it was announced that Line Corp. and Z Holdings were going to be a new subsidiary under Naver Corporation and SoftBank Group, their respective owners.[108] The closing was delayed until March 2021 due to COVID-19.[109]

In March 2020, SoftBank announced that it was launching an emergency ¥4.5tn ($41bn) asset sale to fund a share buyback and debt reduction. The effort was initiated by Son in order to stem a collapse in the company’s share price due to the pandemic, "This programme will be the largest share buyback and will result in the largest increase in cash balance in the history of SBG [SoftBank Group], reflecting the firm and unwavering confidence we have in our business.". After the programme was unveiled, Softbank share price rose almost 19%. The program included a plan to repurchase ¥2tn of its shares in addition to the ¥500bn buyback it promised 10 days prior. Combined, SoftBank would be repurchasing 45% of its stock.[110]

On April 1, 2020, Sprint completed its merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US,, which was majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom, leaving T-Mobile the parent company. The merger also led to Softbank holding 24% of the new T-Mobile's shares, while 43% of shares are held by Deutsche Telekom. The remaining 33% will be held by others. In May 2020, Alibaba's co-founder and former CEO Jack Ma resigned from the board.[111]

In July 2020, SoftBank announced that it was considering selling or IPOing British chip designer Arm Holdings, which has been in a feud with the Chinese over control of its local subsidiary, but it did not have the majority ownership due to a decision made by Softbank to sell off the stake to the local partner.[112][113] For Q2 of 2020, the company's revenues were $12 billion. The firm announced that it would be arranging a new fund worth $555 million. The fund will be used to invest in various companies, including Amazon, Apple and Facebook.[114]

In September 2020, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $100 million Series C round in Biofourmis.[115] Also in September 2020, Softbank was identified as the Nasdaq whale, where it bought stock options valued in the billions, betting on higher prices for the biggest technology companies.[116][117][118][119] That month, SoftBank sold Brightstar Corporation to Brightstar Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.[120][121]

American chip design company Nvidia announced plans on September 13, 2020, to acquire ARM from SoftBank, pending regulatory approval, for a value of US $40 billion in stock and cash. This would become the largest semiconductor acquisition to date. SoftBank Group would retain a 10% share in the company, while ARM would maintain its headquarters in Cambridge]].[122][123][124] But this deal collapsed due to regulatory hurdles.[125]

In December 2020, Hyundai Motor Group acquired an 80% stake of Boston Dynamics from SoftBank for approximately $880 million. SoftBank retains about 20% through an affiliate.[126]

In January 2021, SoftBank sold $2 billion in Uber Technologies shares through affiliate firm SB Cayman.[127]

In March 2021, SoftBank made a record $36.99 billion profit from its Vision Fund unit and investment gains via the public market debut of Coupang.[128] SoftBank Group's net profit was $45.88 billion (¥4.99 trillion).[128] It was the largest recorded annual profit by a Japanese company in history.[128] The same month, Softbank's Vision Fund 2 announced investment in the eToro SPAC merger PIPE of $650 million.[129]

In April 2021, Softbank announced plans to acquire a 40% stake in AutoStore for $2.8 billion and in July 2021, it announced it would invest $870 million in the Korean hotel booking platform Yanolja.[130]

In May 2021, Softbank stated it would sell SB Energy India to Adani Green Energy, valuing the unit at $3.5 billion. The sale is speculated to mark a shift in the company's trajectory, moving away from investments in solar energy towards companies dealing with artificial intelligence.[131][132][133] Later that month, Bloomberg reported that Vision Fund could go public via a $300 million SPAC in 2021, listing in Amsterdam.[134]

In July 2021, Softbank announced that it would acquire the Yahoo Japan brand from Verizon Communications for $1.6 billion.[135][136]

In August 2021, Son said he would begin to make personal investments alongside Softbank Group's Vision Fund 2.[137]

2022–present

[edit]

In August 2022, Softbank said that it sold its entire Uber holdings in April–July 2022.[138] It was also reported that Softbank exited Opendoor in that quarter.[139] Five years after Masayoshi Son’s $100 billion fund entered the financial world to much fanfare, Softbank’s venture firm was crumbling and on the verge of collapse. Its large venture vehicles struggled badly, performing in the bottom of the asset class, and many of Son’s closest associates in the effort had departed from the company.[140]

In February 2023, Toyota Tsusho announced that it had bought the controlling interest in SB Energy, which would become a subsidiary, alongside Toyota Tsusho subsidiary Eurus Energy.[141]

In April 2023, SoftBank Group Corp. announced it was selling to a Singapore-based company run by Masayoshi Son’s youngest brother its Korea-based early-stage venture capital arm SoftBank Ventures Asia Corp. after suffering billions of dollars in losses from failed startup bets.[142]

In May 2023, the SoftBank Group announced that losses from the SoftBank Vision Fund had widened 70 percent to a record $32 billion from a year ago.[143] In another divestiture of assets, SoftBank Group also sold the stake in Fortress Investment Group to Mubadala and Fortress' management.[144]

SoftBank Group's Arm filed for an IPO on 21 August 2023 on the Nasdaq.[145][146] A few days earlier, SoftBank bought back the 25% stake from Vision Fund for around $16 billion, valuing Arm at over $64 billion.[147] Arm went public on 14 September 2023 raising $4.87 billion at a $54.5 billion valuation, with SoftBank continuing to own 90.6% of the company following the offering.[148][149][150]

In December 2023, telecommunication and networking company SoftBank Corp, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp, paid 513 million dollars for a controlling stake in Irish technology company Cubic Telecom, in a deal that will net the company’s founders and its private backers a multimillion-euro payout.[151][152]

On June 27, 2024, Bloomberg reported that SoftBank has invested in the AI search startup Perplexity AI, valuing the company at $3 billion. Perplexity AI, known for its advanced artificial intelligence technology, aims to revolutionize online search experiences. This investment aligns with SoftBank's ongoing strategy to support innovative AI companies, highlighting Perplexity AI's potential in the tech industry. The funding is expected to accelerate the startup's growth and development, further enhancing its AI capabilities and market reach.[153]

Institutional ownership

[edit]

2020

[edit]

As of 30 September 2020, SoftBank ownership is as follows:[154][155]

2022

[edit]

By December 2022, Masayoshi Son’s stake in the company he founded had risen to 34.2% from 32.2% as of the end of September.[156]

Business units

[edit]

SoftBank's corporate profile includes various other companies such as Japanese broadband company SoftBank BB, data center company IDC Frontier and the publishing company SB Creative. SBI Group is a Japanese financial services company that began in 1999 as a branch of SoftBank.[157] Ymobile Corporation is another telecommunications subsidiary of SoftBank, established in 2014. In 2010, SoftBank founded Wireless City Planning (WCP), a subsidiary that planned the development of TD-LTE networks throughout Japan.[158] SoftBank also operates SoftBank Capital, a US-based venture capital company. SoftBank owns the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks professional baseball team. SoftBank also operated in the eco-power industry through subsidiary SB Energy until its sale.

It has various partnerships in Japanese subsidiaries of foreign companies such as Yahoo! (which has resulted in Yahoo! Japan), E-Trade, Ustream.tv, EF Education First and Morningstar. It also has stakes in Alibaba Group and Sprint Corporation.[74]

Other holdings include Softbank Corp. [ja], Softbank Vision Fund [ja], Arm Holdings (90.6%), Fortress Investment Group, Boston Dynamics, T-Mobile US (3.3%), Alibaba (29.5%), Yahoo Japan (48.17%), Brightstar (87.1%), Uber (15%), Didi Chuxing (c. 20%), Ola (c. 30%), Renren (42.9%), InMobi (45%), Hike (25.8%), Snapdeal (c. 30%), Fanatics (c. 22%), Improbable Worlds (c. 50%), Paytm (c. 20%), OYO (42%), Ping An Insurance (7.41%),[159] Slack Technologies (c. 5%), WeWork (c. 46%),[160] ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance (5%), Compass, Inc. (c. 30.1%), AUTO1 Group (c. 20%), Wag (45%), Katerra (c. 28%), Cruise Automation (c. 19.6%), ParkJockey,[161] Tokopedia (Indonesia),[162] and many more companies.

SoftBank Corp.

[edit]

SoftBank Corp. (ソフトバンク株式会社, SofutoBanku Kabushikigaisha) is SoftBank's telecommunications subsidiary, providing both mobile and fixed-line services. It was called SoftBank Mobile until July 2015, when the Group merged SoftBank BB Corp., SoftBank Telecom Corp. and Ymobile Corporation to reflect its fixed-line and ISP operations.[163]

J-PHONE

[edit]
Sony TH291 cellular phone for the Digital Tu-Ka operator
J-PHONE store in Nagoya in 2003

SoftBank's mobile communications arm began with the formation of Japan Telecom in 1984. The Digital Phone Group (デジタルホン, DPG, three local companies) mobile phone division was formed in 1994, and J-PHONE Co., Ltd. (J-フォン) was formed in 1999 by the DGP/ Digital TU-KA Group merger (DTG, six local companies, not to be confused with TU-KA). Japan Telecom owned a stake of 45.1%.

J-PHONE grew steadily for a decade by introducing new services and enhancements such as SkyWalker for PDC, SkyMelody ringtone download, the Sha-Mail picture mail introduced following camera phones developed by SHARP, the mobile multimedia data service J-Sky modeled after NTT DoCoMo's i-mode, and advanced Java services based on JSCL, modeled after NTT DoCoMo's DoJa based i-appli.

Vodafone

[edit]

In October 2001, the British mobile phone group Vodafone increased its share to 66.7% of Japan Telecom and 69.7% of J-Phone. On 1 October 2003, the company's name and the service brand changed to Vodafone, while the division was called Vodafone K.K. or Vodafone Japan.[164]

However, in January 2005, Vodafone Japan lost 58,700 customers and in February 2005 lost 53,200 customers, while competitors NTT DoCoMo gained 184,400 customers, while Au by KDDI gained 163,700, and Willcom gained 35,000. While as of February 2005, DoCoMo's FOMA 3G service had attracted 10 million subscribers and KDDI's 3G service had attracted over 17 million subscribers, Vodafone's 3G service only attracted 527,300 subscribers. Vodafone 3G failed to attract subscribers because Vodafone reduced investments in 3G services in Japan in 2002/3; handsets did not fully match the needs and preferences of Japanese customers. At the end of February 2005, Vodafone Japan had 15.1 million customers. By the end of October 2005, the number of subscribers had fallen below 15M. During the same period, NTT DoCoMo gained 1.65 million customers, and KDDI/AU gained 1.82 million customers. Vodafone-Japan had only 4.8% of Japan's 3G market.

Vodafone changed the name of its multimedia data services from J-Sky to Vodafone live! and used J-Sky's principles, technologies, and business models to introduce the WAP-based Vodafone live! in Vodafone's other markets. At the end of February 2005, Vodafone live! had 12.907 million subscribers in Japan. By the end of October 2005, the number of Vodafone live! subscribers had fallen by 138,000.

In March 2006, Vodafone began discussing the sale of the Vodafone Japan unit to SoftBank. Vodafone was unable to satisfy customers. Handsets had user interfaces that differed too much from the Japanese interface and lacked competitive features.

SoftBank Mobile

[edit]
Television broadcast on a 2007 Sharp phone on SoftBank

On 17 March 2006, Vodafone Group announced it had agreed to sell Vodafone Japan to SoftBank for about US$15.1 billion. On 18 May 2006, the unit was renamed "SoftBank Mobile Corp.", effective 1 October 2006.

On 4 June 2008, SoftBank Mobile announced a partnership with Apple and brought the iPhone (3G) to Japan later in 2008.[165] SoftBank Mobile was the only official carrier of the iPhone in Japan until the release of iPhone 4S in 2011, when au by KDDI began to offer it.[166]

Technology

[edit]

SoftBank Corp.'s mobile network operates W-CDMA (UMTS 3G) network ("SoftBank 3G"). SoftBank's 3G network is compatible with UMTS and supports transparent global roaming for UMTS subscribers from other countries.

Timeline

[edit]
Vodafone store in Ikebukuro, Tokyo
A SoftBank mobile cell tower in Nakatsugawa, Gifu
  • 1981: SoftBank Corp. (currently SoftBank Group Corp.) Japan (Yombancho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo) established. Commenced operations as a distributor of packaged software
  • 1984: Japan Telecom was founded.
  • 1986: Japan Telecom launches leased circuit services.
  • 1986: Railway Telecommunication established.
  • 1989: Railway Telecommunication merges with Japan Telecom.
  • 1991: Tokyo Digital Phone established.
  • 1994: J-Phone starts PDC cellular service in the 1.5 GHz band, 10 MHz bandwidth.
  • 1997: J-Phone launches SkyWalker SMS service designed by Aldiscon and Ericsson for PDC
  • 1998: J-Phone launches SkyMelody ringtone download service
  • 1999: J-Phone launches J-Sky wireless Internet service ten months after NTT DoCoMo's i-mode, which was launched in February 1999.
  • 2000: J-Phone launches Sha-Mail (写メール) picture messaging service using the world's first camera phones developed by SHARP
  • 2001: J-Phone launches Java service with JSCL library
  • 2002: J-Phone launches W-CDMA 3G service for the first time
  • 2002: Company name was changed to Japan Telecom Holdings. The fixed-line telecommunications business was also separated to found a new Japan Telecom.
  • 2003: J-Phone company name is changed to Vodafone K.K., and J-Sky name is changed to Vodafone live!. Vodafone launches a Japan-nationwide Beckham campaign
  • 2003: Company name was changed to Vodafone Holdings K.K.
  • 2004: Vodafone K.K. merges with Vodafone Holdings K.K. and the company name is changed to Vodafone K.K.
  • 2004: Vodafone relaunches the 3G services in Japan a second time offering mobile phone handsets designed primarily for the European markets
  • 2005: Vodafone changes management and relaunches 3G services in Japan a third time
  • 2006: Vodafone officially announced it had agreed to sell Vodafone Japan (Vodafone K.K.) to SoftBank for a total of 1.75 trillion Japanese yen (approx US$15.1 billion) in one of the largest M&A transactions in Japan to date
  • 2006: SoftBank and Vodafone K.K. jointly announced, that the name of the company will be changed to a "new, easy-to-understand and familiar" company name and brand. Masayoshi Son became CEO and Representative Director of Vodafone K.K.
  • 2006: Headquarters moved from Atago Hills to Shiodome to integrate operations with other SoftBank group companies.
  • 2006: SoftBank announced that the name of the company will be changed to "SoftBank Mobile Corp." effective 1 October 2006
  • 2006: SoftBank started rebranding "Vodafone" to "SoftBank."
  • 2006: Vodafone Japan company name is changed to "SoftBank Mobile Corp."
  • 2008: SoftBank Mobile releases iPhone in Japan beating NTT DoCoMo
  • 2008: SoftBank Mobile joins Open Handset Alliance[167]
  • 2010: Softbank purchased 100% of the PHS mobile operator Willcom.
  • 2012: SoftBank Mobile unveils the Pantone 5 107SH, a mobile phone with a built-in geiger counter.[168]
  • 2015: Investment in US-based Social Finance, Inc (SoFi) announced
  • 2015: SoftBank Mobile was merged with SoftBank BB Corp., SoftBank Telecom Corp., and Ymobile Corporation to form a new subsidiary, SoftBank Corp., to reflect its new status of providing fixed-line and ISP operations.[163]
  • 2018: SoftBank Corp. (TSE: 9434) listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange On 19 December 2018.
[edit]
  • SoftBank 821SH PG
    SoftBank 821SH PG
  • SoftBank 001P by Panasonic
    SoftBank 001P by Panasonic
  • SoftBank A202F by FUJITSU
    SoftBank A202F by FUJITSU
  • SoftBank 930CA by CASIO
    SoftBank 930CA by CASIO
  • SoftBank 003SH
    SoftBank 003SH
  • Vodafone 803T by Toshiba
    Vodafone 803T by Toshiba
  • J-PHONE J-SH07 by Sharp (2001)
    J-PHONE J-SH07 by Sharp (2001)
  • An evolution of J-PHONE and Vodafone cell phones, 1997–2004
    An evolution of J-PHONE and Vodafone cell phones, 1997–2004
  • A SoftBank USIM card
    A SoftBank USIM card
  • View of Taitō, Tokyo, with a large Vodafone sign in the background (2004)
    View of Taitō, Tokyo, with a large Vodafone sign in the background (2004)
  • Mobile Blazer (2008)
    Mobile Blazer (2008)

Marketing

[edit]

Since May 2006, SoftBank's telecommunications marketing and commercials have principally revolved around "Otosan sujan karki", the canine patriarch of the otherwise human "Shirason, Kaito" family.[169] "Otosan" translates to father, and the character, a Hokkaido dog, indeed acts as the father of the family, along with the son "Kojiro" (starred by Dante Carver), mom "Masako" (Kanako Higuchi), and daughter "Aya" (Aya Ueto).[170] The advertising series proved to be popular: CM Research Center ranked the Otousan adverts as the most popular in Japan between 2007 and 2012, based on monthly surveys of 3,000 randomly selected adults.[171][172]

SoftBank partnered with the Ingress augmented reality game, supporting the branded "SoftBank Ultra Link" in-game item.[173]

Sponsorship

[edit]

SoftBank bought a "team" for the America's Cup. The team was named SoftBank Team Japan, and Yanmar came on board. SoftBank Team Japan raced in the 2017 races held in Bermuda. The team members come from various backgrounds, most of whom were not Japanese.[174]

The company was the official jersey sponsor of the Japanese national basketball team at the official 2017 Asian Basketball Championship in Lebanon[175] as well as the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

SoftBank has also owned the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, since 2005. The SoftBank logo appears on the jersey, and the team has won seven Japan Series championships under SoftBank, all of which came between 2011 and 2020.

Baby bonus

[edit]

In 2015, SoftBank, along with some other companies in Japan,[176] offered a baby bonus for employees who have children. The payments range from 50,000 yen for the first child to 5 million yen for the fifth child.[177][178][179]

Vision fund investments

[edit]
Main article: SoftBank Vision Fund

SoftBank Investment Advisers oversees SoftBank's Vision Fund, created in 2017, which invests in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and the internet of things.[180] It intended to develop a portfolio of 125 AI companies.[181] According to the fund and Son, it also invested in companies to revolutionize real estate, transportation, and retail. Son claimed he would make personal connections with the CEOs of all companies funded by Vision Fund in order to boost synergies among them.[182] Son’s original plans were to raise $100 billion for a new fund every few years, investing about $50 billion a year in startups.[183] By 2023, after the launch of Vision Fund 1 and 2, the dismal performance[184] of SoftBank’s funds had cast a shadow over the initial exuberance of both Masayoshi Son and his company regarding its huge, largely unprofitable intercorporate investments[185] that had become the main mission, vision and purpose of the entire SoftBank Group.[186][187][188]

SoftBank Ventures Asia

[edit]

SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) was the global early-stage venture capital arm of the SoftBank Group[189] The firm focused on early-stage ICT investments – including Artificial Intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), and smart robotics.[190] By October 2021, SBVA had backed more than 250 companies in 10 countries with US$1.3 billion fund under management.[191]

SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) was founded in 2000 as SoftBank Ventures Korea[190] and began its focus on South Korean market[190] and its early-stage ventures.[189] SBVA’s one of the early investments in South Korea included Nexon Co, now a Korean-Japanese gaming publisher that was the largest IPO in Japan for 2011.[189]

SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) expanded its focus beyond South Korea since 2011 and made several notable investments in Southeast Asia,[192] such as Tokopedia,[193] an Indonesian e-commerce platform, and Carro, Singapore's used-car platform.[194] In 2018, SBVA launched a $300m venture fund ‘China Venture Fund I’,[190] targeting Chinese start-ups,[195] then immediately trailed by ‘SoftBank Acceleration Fund’ with $300M the following year.[189] With continuous investment across Asia and beyond, the company renamed itself as SoftBank Ventures Asia to reflect its broadened focus on startups in the Asia-Pacific region beyond South Korea, and opened offices in Seoul,[196] Singapore, and Beijing.

With the company’s extended expertise in ICT investment, SBVA is aiming towards two investment themes, which were ‘technology innovation’ in AI,[190] Robotics, Semiconductor, Mobility, and AR/VR, and ‘market innovation’ in consumer, enterprise, shared economy, healthcare, etc.[191] SBVA created $160M ‘future innovation fund’ in March 2021, focusing on AI start-ups[197] and made investment in AI sector including VoyagerX, AI software developer,[198] Upstage AI, AI solution provider,[198] and MarqVision, AI-powered intellectual property (IP) protection platform.[199]

In April 2023, it was known that Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group would sell its early-stage venture capital arm SoftBank Ventures Asia to Singapore-based The Edgeof, a newly formed investment firm led by Son's youngest brother, Taizo Son, as SoftBank Group grappled with steep losses in a myriad of investments made around the world.[200] The operation raised governance concerns.[201]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Consolidated financial report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024" (PDF). SoftBank Group. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "SoftBank Group Report 2024" (PDF). SoftBank Group. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  3. ^ "SoftBank Gives Up Pretending It Isn't a Fund". Bloomberg.com. 11 August 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  4. ^ "SoftBank Group Corp". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  5. ^ Crane, John (21 May 2019). "Exposing SoftBank's Hunger for Saudi Blood Money". The Startup.
  6. ^ Wong, Jacky (9 May 2018). "How Much Is the World's Largest Tech Fund Worth to SoftBank?". The Wall Street Journal.
  7. ^ "SoftBank's Son defends Vision Fund at Saudi conference". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  8. ^ "First Bitcoin, Now WeWork: Is Masayoshi Son the Worst Investor Ever?". CCN.com. 26 September 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  9. ^ Elstrom, Peter (2 December 2019). "SoftBank's startup bookkeeping draws scrutiny after WeWork fiasco". The Japan Times. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  10. ^ "Masayoshi Son: Inside the eccentric world of the controversial Japanese billionaire investor". The Independent. 15 January 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Some suggested slides for SoftBank". Financial Times. 10 November 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  12. ^ "Masayoshi Son's $58 Billion Payday on Alibaba". Bloomberg.com. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  13. ^ "SoftBank's Woes: A Deep Dive". ARPU!. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  14. ^ Pollack, Andrew (19 February 1995). "A Japanese Gambler Hits the Jackpot With Softbank". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  15. ^ Singh, Manish (8 August 2022). "SoftBank cautions longer startup winter if unicorn founders unwilling to cut valuations". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  16. ^ Pressman, Aaron (11 April 2023). "Some Boston startups backed by Japanese giant SoftBank are floundering". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  17. ^ "SoftBank Vision Fund: Portfolio returns, investments and strategy". pitchbook.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Arm Sales Rise as SoftBank Targets 2023 IPO for Chip Firm". Bloomberg.com. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  19. ^ "SoftBank moves to sell down most of its Alibaba stake". Financial Times. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  20. ^ Singh, Manish (22 September 2022). "SoftBank cuts internal valuation of $10 billion Oyo to $2.7 billion". TechCrunch. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  21. ^ "Fidelity, After Becoming WeWork's Second-Largest Shareholder, Adds to Stake Once Again". CoStar. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  22. ^ "Deutsche Telekom raises stake in T-Mobile US, swaps shares with Softbank". Fierce Wireless. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  23. ^ "Number of subscribers by Carriers｜TCA". Tca.or.jp.
  24. ^ "Forbes Global 2000". Forbes. 2017.
  25. ^ "The World's Largest Public Companies". Forbes. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  26. ^ "Origin of Brand Name and Logo". SoftBank Group Corp. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  27. ^ "SoftBank in talks with Mizuho and Japan banks for $2.8bn loan". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  28. ^ Webber, Alan M. (1 January 1992). "Japanese-Style Entrepreneurship: An Interview with Softbank'S CEO, Masayoshi Son". Harvard Business Review.
  29. ^ a b "Japan's Big Three Carriers Explained - SoftBank". 27 October 2013.
  30. ^ "Softbank Agrees to Buy Ziff-Davis PC Magazine Group". The New York Times. Bloomberg Business News. 10 November 1995.
  31. ^ Pollack, Andrew (19 February 1995). "A Japanese Gambler Hits the Jackpot With Softbank". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  32. ^ Caulfield, Brian (1 September 2003). "Worst in Show How Key3Media, the company behind the big tech trade show Comdex, went bankrupt". CNN Money. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  33. ^ "Business News – Latest Headlines on CNN Business - CNN". CNN.
  34. ^ "Mr. Japan.com How Son Captured Japan's Internet Economy". money.cnn.com. 16 August 1999.
  35. ^ "2 Founders to Buy Back Kingston Stake From Softbank". Los Angeles Times. 15 July 1999. Retrieved 11 September 2022.
  36. ^ "ソフトバンクグループの歩み". ソフトバンクグループ株式会社.
  37. ^ Sender, Henny; Ling, Connie (18 January 2000). "Softbank to Invest $20 Million In Hong Kong's Alibaba.com". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  38. ^ Galani, Una (22 September 2014). "Valuing SoftBank in Alibaba's Aftermath". DealBook. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
  39. ^ Pfanner, Eric (19 September 2014). "SoftBank's Alibaba Alchemy: How to Turn $20 Million Into $50 Billion". WSJ. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  40. ^ Ji-young, Sohn (28 January 2019). "[Herald Interview] Rebranded SoftBank Ventures Asia to form new fund for AI startups in Asia". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  41. ^ ボーダフォン、メールのドメイン名も「ソフトバンク」へ──10月1日から (in Japanese). ITmedia Mobile. 13 July 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  42. ^ 上戸彩：超高価ケータイ「ないしょにしてね」. Sports Nippon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  43. ^ "Softbank profit soars; buys stake in Ustream", Japan Today, 3 February 2010
  44. ^ Softbank-Group-Wikipedia-accessed. Fbcoverup
  45. ^ Santos, Alexis (3 October 2012). "Softbank to acquire competitor eAccess, expand LTE network by 50 percent". Engadget. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  46. ^ "Yahoo Japan drops $3.2 billion plan to buy eAccess from SoftBank". Reuters. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  47. ^ "Softbank to Buy 70 Percent Stake in Sprint: Sources". CNBC. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
  48. ^ Soni, Phalguni (21 April 2014). "The latest word in telecom". Market Realist. Market Realist, Inc. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  49. ^ "Olacabs raises $210 million from Japan's SoftBank Corp; enters b Club". The Times Of India. 25 October 2014. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014.
  50. ^ "Startup Housing.com valued at Rs 1,500 crore after SoftBank acquires 30% stake for $70 million". The Times Of India. 19 November 2014.
  51. ^ "Aldebaran Robotics Founder and CEO Steps Down, SoftBank Appoints New Leader". IEEE Spectrum: Technology, Engineering, and Science News. 23 February 2015.
  52. ^ Olson, Parmy. "Softbank's Robotics Business Prepares To Scale Up". Forbes.
  53. ^ Quigley, J.T. (22 May 2015). "Post-acquistion [sic], DramaFever has more muscle to spread Asian entertainment to the West". Tech In Asia. Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  54. ^ Martin, Alexander (11 May 2015). "SoftBank CEO Taps a Future Successor in Nikesh Arora". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  55. ^ "Japan's Softbank increases controlling stake in Finnish 'Clash of Clans' maker". Reuters. June 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  56. ^ Ando, Ritsuko (3 June 2015). "SoftBank to invest $1 billion in Korean e-commerce site Coupang". Reuters. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  57. ^ "Changes of Corporate Names of SoftBank Corp. and Subsidiary - Press Releases - News - About Us - SoftBank Group". 11 May 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  58. ^ "Softbank reveals record $4.4bn share buyback". BBC News. 16 February 2016. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  59. ^ "Softbank sells stake in game developer Supercell to Tencent". Yahoo! News. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  60. ^ "Puzzle & Dragons studio GungHo to regain majority stake from SoftBank for $685m". develop-online.net. 7 June 2016.
  61. ^ "SoftBank to sell most of its stake in 'Puzzle & Dragons' maker GungHo". cnet.com. 6 June 2016.
  62. ^ "関連会社株式に係る公開買付けへの応募に関する契約の締結に関するお知らせ". ソフトバンクグループ株式会社. 6 June 2016.
  63. ^ "Tender in Tender Offer for Shares of an Associate - Press Releases - News - SoftBank Group Corp. - SoftBank Group". softbank.jp. 21 June 2016.
  64. ^ "Results of Tender in Tender Offer for Shares of an Associate - Press Releases - News - SoftBank Group Corp. - SoftBank Group". softbank.jp. 22 July 2016.
  65. ^ Martin, Alexander (21 June 2016). "SoftBank President Nikesh Arora to Step Down". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  66. ^ a b Hoffman, Liz; Jenny, Strasburg; Sarah, Krouse (14 February 2017), SoftBank to Buy Fortress Investment Group for $3.3 Billion, The Wall Street Journal
  67. ^ Wong, Jacky (18 July 2016). "SoftBank-ARM: These Chips Don't Come Cheap". The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  68. ^ Jack, Simon (18 July 2016). "ARM Holdings in £24bn Japanese takeover deal". BBC News. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  69. ^ Warren, Tom (5 September 2016). "SoftBank acquires ARM". The Verge. Retrieved 5 September 2016.
  70. ^ Knutson, Ryan (6 December 2016). "When Billionaires Meet: $50 Billion Pledge From SoftBank to Trump". The Wall Street Journal.
  71. ^ "Trump: SoftBank to add $50B, 50K jobs in U.S." usatoday.com.
  72. ^ "Amazon to add 100,000 full-time jobs in U.S. by '19". USA Today: B1/B2. 13 January 2017.
  73. ^ Farrell, Maureen; Winkler, Rolfe; Brown, Eliot (31 January 2017), "SoftBank Mulls Investment of Over $1 Billion in WeWork", Wall Street Journal, New York City, retrieved 31 January 2017
  74. ^ a b "Masayoshi Son goes on a $100bn shopping spree". The Economist. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  75. ^ Rudegeair, Peter (16 February 2017), Silver Lake, Softbank to Join New $500 Million Investment in Lender SoFi, New York City: The Wall Street Journal, retrieved 17 February 2017
  76. ^ Wu, Kane; Negishi, Mayumi (28 March 2017). "SoftBank Considers $6 Billion Investment in China Ride-Hailing Firm Didi". Wall Street Journal. New York. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  77. ^ Mundy, Simon (18 May 2017). "India's Paytm wins $1.4bn Softbank investment". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  78. ^ Rai, Saritha (10 August 2017). "SoftBank Fund Is Said to Invest $2.5 Billion in Flipkart". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
  79. ^ Alkhalisi, Zahraa (6 October 2017). "Where the huge SoftBank-Saudi tech fund is investing". Cnn.com. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  80. ^ "SoftBank Vision Fund announces first major close" (PDF). Softbank.jp. 20 May 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  81. ^ "Masayoshi Son and Saudi Arabia launch a monster technology fund". The Economist. 25 May 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  82. ^ Dolan, Kerry A. (5 April 2017). "Japanese Billionaire Masayoshi Son, Larry Ellison, Apple, Saudi Arabia All Bet On Vision Fund". Forbes.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  83. ^ Torchia, Andrew (20 May 2017). "Softbank-Saudi tech fund becomes world's biggest with $93 billion of capital". Reuters.com. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  84. ^ Benner, Katie (10 October 2017). "Masayoshi Son's Grand Plan for SoftBank's $100 Billion Vision Fund". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 November 2018.
  85. ^ Shu, Catherine (26 July 2019). "SoftBank announces AI-focused second $108 billion Vision Fund with LPs including Microsoft, Apple and Foxconn". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  86. ^ Winkler, Rolfe; Hoffman, Liz; Hope, Bradley (7 February 2020). "New SoftBank Tech Fund Falls Far Short of $108 Billion Fundraising Goal". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  87. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (9 June 2017). "SoftBank is buying robotics firms Boston Dynamics and Schaft from Alphabet".
  88. ^ Brown, Eliot (25 August 2017). "SoftBank Finalizes $4.4 Billion WeWork Investment". The Wall Street Journal.
  89. ^ "SoftBank to work with Saudi Arabia on new city". Reuters.com. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2018.
  90. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  91. ^ Hook, Leslie (29 December 2017). "SoftBank deal helps clear path towards Uber IPO". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  92. ^ Hook, Leslie (28 December 2017). "SoftBank-led group to acquire $9bn stake in Uber". Financial Times. London. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  93. ^ "SoftBank's Vision Fund Invests $560 Million in Auto1 Group". Bloomberg.com. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  94. ^ "DoorDash is raising $535 million from SoftBank and others at a $1.4 billion valuation". Recode. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  95. ^ "Whoops: SoftBank CEO reveals Walmart has acquired Flipkart – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  96. ^ Brown, Eliot; Kusisto, Laura (27 September 2018). "SoftBank Invests $400 Million in Home-Selling Startup Opendoor". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  97. ^ Jones, Rory; Said, Summer (30 September 2018). "Saudi Arabia Shelves Work on SoftBank's $200 Billion Solar Project". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  98. ^ "SoftBank sets indicative share price of 1,500 yen for next month's IPO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 November 2018.
  99. ^ "SoftBank invests in parking startup ParkJockey pushing valuation to $1 billion". TechCrunch. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
  100. ^ "SoftBank's Vision Fund is preparing to invest $1 billion in Grab". TechCrunch. 21 December 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  101. ^ "SoftBank Robotics Singapore Launches AI Commercial Vacuum Cleaner 'Whiz'". 25 September 2019 – via softbankrobotics.com.
  102. ^ Eavis, Peter; Merced, Michael J. de la (30 September 2019). "WeWork I.P.O. Is Withdrawn as Investors Grow Wary". The New York Times.
  103. ^ Griffith, Erin (10 December 2019). "SoftBank Takes Loss in Sale of Wag, Dog-Walking Start-Up". The New York Times.
  104. ^ "SoftBank loses one of the few board members who could challenge Masayoshi Son". 27 December 2019 – via LATimes.com.
  105. ^ Goel, Vindu; Singh, Karan Deep; Griffith, Erin (13 January 2020). "Oyo Scales Back as SoftBank-Funded Companies Retreat". The New York Times.
  106. ^ Merced, Michael J. de la (6 February 2020). "Elliott Management Is Said to Push for Change at SoftBank". The New York Times.
  107. ^ Hu, Joshua Franklin (3 March 2020). "SoftBank CEO tells U.S. investors he'll be more careful". Reuters – via www.reuters.com.
  108. ^ Shu, Catherine (18 November 2019). "Yahoo Japan and Line Corp. confirm merger agreement". TechCrunch. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  109. ^ "Coronavirus delays Yahoo Japan's merger with Line". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  110. ^ Kana Inagaki; et al. (22 March 2020). "SoftBank plans $41bn asset sale to cut debt amid coronavirus tumult". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  111. ^ "Alibaba's Jack Ma quits SoftBank board after $18B Vision Fund loss". 18 May 2020 – via NYPost.
  112. ^ Cimilluca, Dana; Lombardo, Cara. "SoftBank considers sale or IPO of British chip designer Arm Holdings". MarketWatch. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  113. ^ "How SoftBank's sale of Arm China sowed the seeds of discord". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  114. ^ Inagaki, Kana (11 August 2020). "SoftBank rebounds from historic loss with $12bn quarterly profit". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  115. ^ Shu, Catherine (2 September 2020). "SoftBank Vision Fund 2 leads $100 million Series C in digital therapeutics company Biofourmis". TechCrunch. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  116. ^ "Softbank was identified as being the 'Nasdaq whale'". CNBC. 4 September 2020.
  117. ^ "SoftBank option purchases raise eyebrows as Wall Street backtracks". 5 September 2020.
  118. ^ Lachapelle, Tara (5 September 2020). "Nasdaq Whale: Softbank's huge tech options bet answers stock rally riddle". Business Standard India.
  119. ^ "Nasdaq Whale and how SoftBank's derivative bets may have powered the US tech rally". 5 September 2020.
  120. ^ Nussey, Sam; Gallagher, Chris (18 September 2020). "SoftBank exits cellphone distributor Brightstar in telecoms sell-down". Reuters. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  121. ^ Narioka, Kosaku; Dvorak, Phred (18 September 2020). "SoftBank Sells Brightstar, Carrying On Its Divestiture Spree". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  122. ^ Rosoff, Matt (13 September 2020). "Nvidia to buy Arm Holdings from SoftBank for $40 billion". CNBC. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  123. ^ Moorhead, Patrick. "It's Official: NVIDIA Acquires Arm For $40B To Create What Could Be A Computing Juggernaut". Forbes. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  124. ^ Massoudi, Arash; Smith, Robert; Fontanella-Khan, James (12 September 2020). "SoftBank set to sell UK's Arm Holdings to Nvidia for $40bn". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  125. ^ Lee, Jane Lanhee; Horwitz, Josh (8 February 2022). "SoftBank dumps sale of Arm over regulatory hurdles, to IPO instead". Reuters. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  126. ^ "Hyundai Motor Buys 80% of Robotics Firm Boston Dynamics". Bloomberg.com. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  127. ^ "SoftBank Sells $2 Billion in Uber Stock as Rides Recover". Bloomberg.com. 11 January 2021. Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  128. ^ a b c "Softbank just shocked its critics by landing the biggest profit in the history of a Japanese company". CNBC. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021.
  129. ^ "Israel's eToro to go public through $10.4 billion SPAC deal backed by SoftBank, others". Financial Post. 16 March 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  130. ^ "SoftBank Group to acquire 40% stake in AutoStore for $2.8 billion". The Japan Times. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  131. ^ "India's Adani Green to buy SoftBank-backed SB Energy in $3.5 billion deal". Reuters. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  132. ^ Dvorak, Phred (19 May 2021). "SoftBank Sells Renewable-Energy Unit in India". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  133. ^ Burgos, Jonathan. "Adani Green To Buy SB Energy India For $3.5 Billion From SoftBank, Bharti". Forbes. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  134. ^ "Softbank's Vision Fund could go public in a $300 million SPAC deal, report says". markets.businessinsider.com. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  135. ^ "Softbank buys Yahoo Japan brand from Verizon for $1.6 billion". RCR Wireless News. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  136. ^ "SoftBank buys perpetual Yahoo trademark license for $1.6 billion". TechCrunch. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  137. ^ Savitz, Eric J. "SoftBank CEO to Take Stake in Vision Fund 2". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  138. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (8 August 2022). "Japanese giant SoftBank dumps its entire stake in Uber as losses mount at its investment unit". CNBC.
  139. ^ Nussey, Sam (8 August 2022). "SoftBank posts record net loss on $23.1 bln Vision Fund hit". Reuters.
  140. ^ "Softbank: Twilight of an Empire | The Generalist". www.generalist.com. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  141. ^ Lee, Andrew (9 February 2023). "Toyota Tsusho swoops for SB Energy set up by billionaire to green Japan post-Fukushima". Recharge. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
  142. ^ "SoftBank to Sell Korean Venture Arm to Firm Run by CEO's Brother". WSJ. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  143. ^ "SoftBank Vision Fund Posts Record Loss Despite Masayoshi Son Foreseeing Disaster". Observer. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  144. ^ "SoftBank sells Fortress stake to Mubadala and management". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  145. ^ Nerkar, Santul; Clark, Don (21 August 2023). "Arm, the Chip Designer, Files for an I.P.O. Expected to Be Among the Largest". The New York Times.
  146. ^ Meredith, Sam (3 March 2023). "British chip giant Arm chooses New York listing in a blow to London". CNBC.
  147. ^ King, Ian; Hytha, Michael (21 August 2023). "SoftBank's Arm Files for IPO That Is Set to Be 2023's Biggest". Bloomberg News.
  148. ^ Wang, Echo; Sen, Anirban (14 September 2023). "How SoftBank played it safe in pricing Arm's IPO". Reuters.
  149. ^ Hansen, Sarah (13 September 2023). "Arm IPO: A Dominant Chip Designer but at a 'Very, Very' Lofty Price". Morningstar.
  150. ^ Giang, Vivian (13 September 2023). "Arm, the Chip Designer, Raises $4.87 Billion in the Year's Largest I.P.O." The New York Times.
  151. ^ Nick, Carey. "SoftBank Corp buys $514 mln majority stake in car software firm Cubic Telecom". Reuters. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  152. ^ "EY Ireland advises Cubic Telecom on Investment from Softbank". www.ey.com. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  153. ^ "SoftBank Invests in Perplexity AI at $3 Billion Valuation". Reuters. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  154. ^ "Ownership".
  155. ^ "SOFTBANK GROUP CORP. : Shareholders Board Members Managers and Company Profile | JP3436100006 | MarketScreener".
  156. ^ Lee, Ming Jeong; Hyuga, Takahiko; Mak, Pei Yi (8 December 2022). "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son quietly lifts stake to 34%, edging toward buyout". The Japan Times. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  157. ^ Corporate history, JP: SBI.
  158. ^ "SoftBank aims at 97% coverage for TD-LTE network, says CTO Yoshioki Chika - Global Telecoms Business". Archived from the original on 17 March 2017. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  159. ^ "Chinese online medical platform Ping An Healthcare and Technology to raise US$1b from Hong Kong IPO". scmp.com. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  160. ^ C, Priyamvada; Deka, Kannaki (17 March 2023). "WeWork reaches deals to cut debt, extend maturities". Reuters.
  161. ^ "Softbank Invests in a New-Age Cloud Company". Fortune. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  162. ^ "Tokopedia raises $1.1b from SoftBank, Alibaba to evolve into infrastructure-as-a-service". TechinAsia. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  163. ^ a b "Changes of Corporate Names - SoftBank Corp. - Group Companies - About Us - SoftBank Group". Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  164. ^ "Bill Morrow, Vodafone's turnaround guru, Walks Away". Cellular-news.com. 24 June 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  165. ^ "念願のiPhoneを獲得した舞台裏 ソフトバンク、トラウマ乗り越える" (in Japanese). 6 June 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
  166. ^ "SoftBank reaches deal with Apple to sell iPhone handsets in Japan this year", International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, 4 June 2008, archived from the original on 8 June 2008
  167. ^ "announces 14 new members". Open Handset Alliance. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
  168. ^ Chang, Alexandra (29 May 2012). "SoftBank Unveils World's First Phone With Radiation Detection". Wired. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  169. ^ "Veteran actor Kai-kun retires from SoftBank Otousan role". www.japanhbvn nb nbvnbvvhjcgjator.com. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  170. ^ Griner, David (12 August 2012). "Meet Japan's Most Popular Ad Family". Adweek. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  171. ^ Corkill, Edan (29 April 2012). "Otosan, Japan's top dog". Japan Times. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  172. ^ Corkill, Edan (29 April 2012). "Otosan, Japan's top dog". Retrieved 7 December 2016 – via Japan Times Online.
  173. ^ Shannon, Jonathan (9 July 2015). "Axa reaches millions of people through augmented reality game Ingress". Campaign.
  174. ^ "Dean Barker: Looking Back At 35th America's Cup". Archived from the original on 19 October 2017.
  175. ^ "Japan at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  176. ^ Turner, David (21 March 2007). "Japan offers baby bonus to workers". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  177. ^ "Cash for Kids: Japan's Employers Offer "Baby Bonuses"". ABC News. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  178. ^ "Cash for Kids: Japan's Employers Offer 'Baby Bonuses' - ABC News". ABC News. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 30 September 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  179. ^ "A shrinking work force solution: Baby bonuses". businessrecord.com. Retrieved 30 September 2021.
  180. ^ "SoftBank's $100 Billion Vision Fund Is Run by These 10 Men". Bloomberg.com. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  181. ^ Brooker, Katrina (14 January 2019). "The most powerful person in Silicon Valley". Fast Company. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  182. ^ Sherman, Alex (1 August 2018). "Masayoshi Son building Vision Fund into family, say founders". CNBC. Retrieved 16 January 2019.
  183. ^ Ghurye, Shruti (7 February 2019). "Masayoshi Son: Betting big and winning". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  184. ^ Linares, Maria Gracia Santillana. "SoftBank Puts Blockchain Investments On Ice As Part Of Startup Pullback". Forbes. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  185. ^ "Accounting for Intercorporate Investments: What You Need to Know". Investopedia. Retrieved 23 February 2023.[unreliable source?]
  186. ^ "Breakingviews - SoftBank is paying for Son's past exuberance". Reuters. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  187. ^ "SoftBank CEO to Skip Earnings Call for First Time as Tech Slumps". Bloomberg.com. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  188. ^ "SoftBank's future rests on Arm". Financial Times. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  189. ^ a b c d "SoftBank's Son finds more love for early-stage investing, new fund planned". Reuters. 10 March 2019. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  190. ^ a b c d e Ji-young, Sohn (28 January 2019). "[Herald Interview] Rebranded SoftBank Ventures Asia to form new fund for AI startups in Asia". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  191. ^ a b "Funding, talent & decision-making are the biggest challenges for innovators, says SoftBank Ventures Asia's JP Lee [Q&A]". TechNode Global. 14 September 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  192. ^ "SoftBank Ventures Asia hits $341m second close for early-stage fund". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  193. ^ Horwitz, Josh (12 June 2013). "Tokopedia Lands Funding To Help It Become Indonesia's Alibaba". TNW | Asia. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  194. ^ "Asia Solutions". www.businesstimes.com.sg. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  195. ^ Sender, Henny (25 September 2018). "TPG partners with SoftBank Ventures Korea for $300m China fund". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  196. ^ Min-kyung, Jung (3 January 2019). "Softbank Ventures Korea rebrands as Softbank Ventures Asia". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  197. ^ "소프트뱅크벤처스, AI 스타트업 투자 1천800억 펀드 조성". hankyung.com (in Korean). 24 March 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  198. ^ a b Byung-wook, Kim (23 June 2021). "Local AI startup VoyagerX raises $27m from SoftBank, others". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  199. ^ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  200. ^ Park, Kate (13 April 2023). "As tech slumps, SoftBank sells VC unit to Singapore-based firm led by Masayoshi Son's brother". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  201. ^ "SoftBank unit's sale to founder's brother raises governance concerns". Financial Times. 13 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.

Additional sources

[edit]
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to SoftBank.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SoftBank_Group&oldid=1257180582"