SoftBank’s record $23.4bn quarterly loss, a pledge of heavy cost-cutting and an hour of public self-criticism by its founder Masayoshi Son could push the Japanese billionaire to reconsider a management buyout of the technology conglomerate.
Analysts and investors said the latest results, which delivered fresh signs that SoftBank is preparing to sell key operations such as Fortress Investment Group and focus more exclusively on its two Vision Funds, raised questions over whether it still needed to be listed at all.
People close to the company confirmed that Son has discussed the option of taking SoftBank private on several occasions over the past three years, but had always rejected the idea, in part because of pressure from the company’s biggest Japanese banking lenders, notably Mizuho.