- Softbank Group Corp SFTBF has started laying off employees at its loss-making Vision Fund and will likely cut at least 30% of its staff.
- Softbank has started telling some workers of the reductions, with at least 150 likely to be affected, Bloomberg reports.
- The Vision Fund unit, headquartered in London, had about 500 employees, including the Latin America fund staff.
- Earlier, founder Masayoshi Son had shared cost-cut intentions at his conglomerate and the Vision Fund investment arm after a record $23-billion loss. Most of the losses came from a plunge in the valuations of portfolio companies, including South Korea’s Coupang, Inc CPNG and DoorDash, Inc DASH.
- Internally, SoftBank planned Vision Fund unit staff cuts of at least 20%, while some argued for up to 50%.
- SoftBank raised more than $17 billion by selling forward contracts on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.
- Softbank also explored the launch of a new giant startup investment fund after the poor performance of its two earlier funds.
- The leading startup investor will likely use its cash for the third SoftBank Vision Fund. SoftBank had also weighed putting additional money into Vision Fund 2.
- Son plans to visit Seoul for the first time in three years and discuss a potential partnership between Arm Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd SSNLF.
- Price Action: SFTBF shares were down 0.38% at $34.28 at last check.