Masayoshi Son, the founder of Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, announced that he will be implementing cost cuts across the group after seeing US$23 billion in losses in the latest quarter, Bloomberg reported.
According to the company’s most recent earnings release, it saw US$17.3 billion worth of losses attributable to the group’s Vision Funds.
Son acknowledged responsibility, with a promise that “everything” will be looked over for potential cuts. This included both junior and senior employees in its front and back offices.
The SoftBank founder also noted that the group had marked down 284 portfolio companies in the latest quarter. Only 35 firms in its portfolio had appreciated in value.
The group is currently suppressing new investments as well, with only US$600 million in investments approved in the latest quarter, down significantly from US$20.6 billion in the same period a year earlier.
SoftBank is in talks to sell its subsidiary Fortress Investment Group, as well as its stake in digital personal finance firm SoFi Technologies.
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The Japanese conglomerate’s shares have fallen about 3% in the morning’s trading. In a bid to bolster share prices, Son announced a share buy-back program, looking to purchase up to 400 billion yen (US$2.9 billion) of its own shares.
Currency converted from Japanese yen to US dollar: US$1 = 134.93 yen.
Editing by Miguel Cordon and Lorenzo Kyle Subido
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