SoftBank Removes Board Members Including Rajeev Misra, Marcelo Claure

SoftBank, the Japanese technology holding company, announced on Monday that Vision Fund chief Rajeev Misra and chief operating officer Marcelo Claure are among the four directors resigning immediately from the company’s board.

Misra and Claure will keep their management positions. Katsunori Sago, chief strategy officer and governor of SoftBank, and Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan, board member of the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, are also stepping down from SoftBank’s board.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son is making changes to improve perception of board independence. SoftBank added four new board members in June who were not affiliated with the company’s operations.

“The changes to our board build on the improvements we made in June, including ensuring we have a greater proportion of outside directors, and further underscore SoftBank’s commitment to corporate governance.” Son said in a statement.

Son’s decision making has been called into question several times in recent years. He has invested billions of dollars in WeWork, pushing the startup to a private valuation of $ 47 billion, only to see the company’s value plummet in an unsuccessful attempt to go public in 2019.

The Vision Fund, the Saudi Arabia-backed $ 100 billion private investment vehicle, changed investment strategies after WeWork collapsed and pandemic shutdowns. Recent changes have included a slowdown in the pace of investment and the search for companies with clearer paths to profitability. SoftBank has also struggled to raise funds for its second Vision Fund, initially slated to be a $ 104 billion investment vehicle.

Son’s decision to invest in publicly traded technology equity derivatives has also been questioned by investors as being too risky.

Still, SoftBank’s results improved as 2020 progressed. SoftBank shares are up more than 60% this year, far outpacing the S&P 500, which has gained 12%. The Vision Fund, which owns more than 80 partial stakes in technology companies around the world, posted a record profit of $ 7.6 billion for the three months ended September 30. Misra begged the investment community to give the fund time to show returns rather than judge results too quickly.