Masayoshi Son, the CEO of Softbank is toying with the idea of bringing some change to the investment strategies for his Vision Fund. The changes will be brought to put more emphasis on the companies that are more into profitability as well as public offerings. This was disclosed by some sources associated with the project.
The sources further added that the CEO is considering slowing the investment pace for the Vision Fund 2 compared to the first edition of the fund that involved $100 billion. He is planning to emphasize on the companies that are well-equipped to gain profitability at a brisk pace, the source said on the condition of anonymity. The identity had to be kept secret as all these decisions have so far been taken at closed-door meetings.
This change in policy is mostly in response to the reaction of the market to the other Vision Fun investments in the past. The Vision Fund move was put under a scanner following the failure of the WeWork Project to launch, and not-so-impressive performance by the other Softbank run investments likes Slack and Uber. The fund is being scrutinized by various quarters, as it is seeking to raise further billions of dollars, for funding its second version.
SoftBank joined hands with Vision Fund to invest approximately $10.6 billion for WeWork. Son is planning to play a more active role when he selects new investments when the Vision Fund 2 security intensifies. However, a couple of experts associated with the project commented that this shift of focus needs to be considered as a temporary stand, and would change with the chance of the market dynamics. A spokesperson of SoftBank Vision Fund, however, did not come out with any official statement.
The structure of the second version will also differ from the first one and would provide a longer period and more flexibility for monetizing the investments.
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