SoftBank’s vice chairman to step down from board of directors

SoftBank has announced the departure of two members from its board of directors: Ronald D. Fisher, the company’s vice chairman, and Simon Segars, CEO of UK chipmaker Arm Holdings, which the Japanese conglomerate acquired in 2016 and then sold off to US-based Nvidia last year in a pending US$40 billion deal.

Ronald D. Fisher, vice chairman of SoftBank

Fisher, however, will continue contributing to SoftBank Group, according to the company. Yuko Kawamoto, an external board director, will also be resigning in June 2021.

“Throughout the SoftBank Group’s journey in leading the way in each era of PC, internet, broadband, mobile, and AI, Ron has always been the source of wisdom for me, and together we have been striving to accelerate the information revolution,” said Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank.

Meanwhile, SoftBank has nominated Kentaro Kawabe, CEO of Z Holdings, and Keiko Erikawa, chairman of Koei Tecmo Holdings, to join its board through an election on June 23.

This development comes days after SoftBank posted an annual net profit of 4.9 trillion yen (US$45.8 billion), driven by an investment gain from listing of Coupang. This marks the biggest annual earnings ever by a Japanese firm, making it the world’s third most profitable company after US tech titan Apple and oil and gas major Saudi Aramco.