SoftBank investors call for investigation, dismissal of Nikesh Arora: report

Photo credit: Loic Le Meur.

SoftBank’s president and COO Nikesh Arora, second-in-command to billionaire founder Masayoshi Son, seems to have gotten off on the wrong foot with a bunch of the telco giant’s investors.

A group of investors in SoftBank has called on the board to investigate and possibly dismiss Nikesh Arora, reports Bloomberg. The investors have sent an 11-page letter questioning Nikesh’s track record and qualifications as president and heir apparent to Masayoshi Son.

The investors raised questions about Nikesh’s role as a senior adviser to the private equity firm Silver Lake and pointed at a conflict of interest there. In the letter, they criticized his allegedly “poor investment performance and a series of questionable transactions” during his tenure.

See: Who is Nikesh Arora, and why do Softbank investors hate him so much?

This letter was sent to SoftBank’s board on January 20 from American law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner. Bloomberg reports:

The investors are demanding that the boards at SoftBank and Sprint conduct “an internal investigation” by an independent firm. “We believe that an independent investigation will establish compelling grounds for the boards of SoftBank and Sprint to dismiss Mr. Arora from his executive and board positions.”

Meanwhile, SoftBank has backed Arora to the hilt. It called the letter “unsubstantiated allegations” from “unidentified shareholders.” In a statement made available to Bloomberg, Masayoshi Son said: “I have complete trust in Nikesh and one thousand percent confidence in him and know he will continue to do great things for SoftBank in the future.”

Last year, Nikesh made big news when he bought SoftBank shares worth US$482 million using his personal savings.

Source: Bloomberg