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SoftBank Group takes huge dip with worst annual loss of US$13 billion

19 May 2020 12:34

TOKYO - SoftBank Group Corp announced its worst annual loss of US$13 billion, brought about by its US$100 billion VC arm Vision Fund which posted a staggering US$18 billion loss in the same period.

As reported by Reuters, the Vision Fund’s declining performance comes amid the global economic downturn caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, which resulted in losses amounting to almost US$10 billion at WeWork and Uber and US$7.5 billion on the fund's other portfolio companies.

“The coronavirus is an unprecedented crisis,” SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said in a presentation in Tokyo, Japan on Monday (18/5), adding that some of his tech investment has plummeted “into the valley of the coronavirus”.

According to Mr Son, SoftBank will raise US$11.7 billion using its stake in Alibaba Group, the biggest asset in the Vision Fund’s portfolio, to finance stock buybacks.

As of March 2020, the valuation of the Vision Fund’s investment in 88 startups fell from US$75 billion to US$69.6 billion, with the fund having reported two consecutive quarterly losses before the COVID-19 pandemic owing to Mr Son’s penchant for risky investments in unestablished startups.

Earlier this year, Mr Son accepted Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s invitation to join the country’s Capital City Relocation Steering Committee, along with former British prime minister Tony Blair and UAE Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed al Nahyan. (MS)

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