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TOKYO – The SoftBank group announced Friday it has agreed to raise at least $ 108 billion for a new investment fund. Yet, throughout his interview with Nikkei at SoftBank's headquarters in Tokyo, Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank, has rarely relaxed his serious expression.
To face the disturbances induced by the artificial intelligence, it will be necessary a real concentration, he explained. "AI has already pbaded the stage of academic research and is in the process of adoption in the real world," he said. "It will be widely used.If I had to name three areas that will be transformed in the most radical way by AI in 10 years, these are the business models, health care and transportation."
The first Vision fund, worth nearly $ 100 billion, has been making huge bets in these areas for two years. to take in advance. Among its portfolio companies are US giant Uber Technologies, the office-sharing company WeWork and ByteDance, the Chinese owner of many popular social media applications.
"Unicorns [unlisted companies with a valuation of $1 billion or more] are being born one after the other, and we can monetize the investments faster, compared to the beginnings of the internet, "said Son." I feel confident. "
Critics describe the Vision Fund as a symbol of the tech bubble. But Son's faith in the potential of AI is based on a career spent betting on major technology trends.
"When the Internet revolution began more than 20 years ago, people were asking me similar questions, but what happened in the end?" The Internet has spread to every corner of the Internet. The same goes for artificial intelligence.The world does not get tired of AI.
"Those who describe the current environment as" bubble "and" dangerous "are those who do not understand technology.For those of us who understand it, it is now the point of 39, entry of the revolution and the opportunity, some warned that the Internet was ". a glbad cave "during the Internet revolution, they must now feel embarrbaded.
"The average price / earnings ratio of large IT companies is about 30 times, but their profits are growing by about 30% a year and the P / E ratio will fall in the next two years." This is similar to the Japanese manufacturing sector, so you can not say that the price of IT companies' shares is too expensive – in fact, the manufacturing sector may be too expensive, given its low growth potential in five years. the timing of your evaluation. "
SoftBank's stock price highlights the gap between Son's futuristic vision and the more skeptical view of the market. SoftBank's market capitalization of 12 trillion yen ($ 110.4 billion) represents less than half of the total value of equity investments in various companies, totaling 27 trillion yen.
"Market expectations will eventually overtake SoftBank's core strength and surpbad it – I'm patient – some may say mobile the group's telecommunications have matured. But if the fund business succeeds and generates high returns, I think the market will be more relieved. Starting next year, I expect IPOs from portfolio companies almost every month. "
Successfully transforming SoftBank into an investment company will be essential to ensure its survival for 300 years – a long-term goal of Son.
"The Vision Fund is the basic method, and it will invest in a group of companies that will lead the 300-year-old information revolution and become the majority shareholder." Companies will stimulate each other. within the family and generate synergies. But we will let companies whose growth slows down their training and involve growing businesses. This hardness allows [the group] to grow and survive. "
The Vision Fund is also the attempt of Son alleviate worries about SoftBank's future after retirement. The 61-year-old has not yet named a successor.
"Once an ecosystem of a growing group of companies will be established, it will continue to grow, even after I leave." I'm constantly thinking of a successor. </ P> <p> Candidates may come from the company or portfolio from Vision Fund. "
While Son's aggressive negotiations fueled concerns over SoftBank's debt, Son said he had a set of rules to limit risk. The first is to keep the group's loan-to-value ratio below 25% of the value of its holdings, which allows it to survive by selling shares, even if their value drops by three quarters. Another solution is to keep liquidity equal to the value of its maturing bonds over the next two years. "At the moment, I'm not scared because the solvency ratio is below 15% .We are in a comfort zone," said Son.
"Going on unexplored lands means being on the offensive, not being on the offensive is the biggest risk because we are always on the offensive, we are also giving more and more money. pay attention to the defense that a typical company.You can cut about 30% of the costs of a company. " the lizard's tail and she will grow back. But cutting more means cutting one's organs and the lizard will die. "
Analysts said that not getting regulatory approval from its heavily indebted US mobile arm, Sprint and T-Mobile, would be a blow to SoftBank. The son is not in agreement.
"Sprint's debt is" non-recourse ", which means that SoftBank has no repayment obligation.The debt bore a high interest and SoftBank had no intention of repaying it.If we did it for" moral responsibility ", our foreign shareholders would probably file a lawsuit."
"It was extremely difficult when I launched Yahoo BB and acquired the Japanese unit of Vodafone.There were continual crises and I was on the brink of the abyss.In relation to the time, the situation is very stable. I can sleep almost every night. "
Wataru Suzuki in Tokyo contributed to this report.
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