SoftBank’s Vision Fund or How to Lose 5 Billion Dollars in a Car’s Seat

Jakub Majko

Chapter 7 in Overcoming Crisis:Case Studies of Asian Multinational Corporations, 2023, pp 95-109 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: The idea of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) overpowering human intelligence was an inspiration for many sci-fi novelists, cinematographers, and investors. Singularity, when the human brain won’t be able to keep up with a technological development, offered inspiration for the investment strategy of the scale never heard of. Masayoshi Son, the CEO and founder of SoftBank Group, established in May 2017 the largest technology-based investment fund with a total capital of $100 billion: the Vision Fund. The venture capital fund aims to invest in startups and companies primarily in technological industries but also includes the financial and transportation sectors. Four years after the fund’s establishment, SoftBank reported over $36 billion Vision Fund unit profit which counted as the largest annual profit recorded by any Japanese company to date (CNBC, 2021). Nonetheless, the fund’s journey has been rather challenging. The company prematurely picked its investments and overfunded startups under the Vision Fund’s portfolio. One such case was a commercial real estate company, WeWork. The investment that was reportedly agreed on in a shared taxi ride ended up being a major lesson for Masayoshi Son, costing the company nearly $5 billion.

Keywords: Globalization; Asian Business/Management; Entrepreneurship; Strategy; Crisis; Marketing; Decision Sciences; Gaming; Automotive; K-Pop; Aviation Industry; Restaurant and Hospitality Management; Keiretsu; Chinese Management; Korean Management; General Business; Management; International Trade (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 L26 M1 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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