Softbank

Weitere 108 Milliarden $: Warum unter anderem Microsoft beim zweiten Vision Fund von Softbank dabei ist

26. Juli 2019 by Marcel Weiß

Der erste Vision Fund war bereits eine Bombe, jetzt kommt, wie angekündigt, der zweite Vision Fund von Softbank.

The Japanese conglomerate will commit $38 billion to Vision Fund 2 with the goal of raising a total of $108 billion, SoftBank said in a statement Friday. Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan and a number of Japanese finance companies are also expected to contribute capital, SoftBank said.
Son is aiming to raise a new massive fund every two or three years to take advantage of opportunities to invest in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. SoftBank in June disclosed that the Vision Fund has earned 62% returns so far after making 71 investments for a total of $64.2 billion.

Reuters

Other companies expected to participate in the fund include Foxconn Technology Group, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, and MUFG Bank Ltd, the company said.

Vision Fund: Softbanks gun-senryaku-Strategie

20. Februar 2019 by Marcel Weiß

Aus dem hier erwähnten Porträt von Softbank-Gründer und CEO Masayoshi Son in Fast Company:

Son and his colleagues refer to his strategy by using the Japanese phrase gun-senryaku, which can mean a flock of birds flying in formation. (Son also refers to his investments as his cluster of number ones.) Collectively, these enterprises are moving faster–and more forcefully–than they ever could individually. Those on the inside say it is even more rapid than anyone on the outside realizes. Over the summer, Son asked Claure, his COO, to start a new internal division devoted to “value creation.” Its purpose is to help Vision Fund entrepreneurs access SoftBank’s vast global resources and partnerships. Claure currently has 100 people working on the team, technically known as the SoftBank Operating Group, and expects to have 250 dedicated to these efforts by sometime next year.

Wie Softbank zum globalen Ridesharing-Strippenzieher hinter Lyft, Didi, Grab und bald Uber wird

25. Juli 2017 by Marcel Weiß

Lesenswerte Analyse von Ben Thompson über den 2-Milliarden-$-Deal von Grab (Paywall), über den wir im Vergleich zum DB-Talixo-Deal gestern schon gesprochen hatten:

It’s hard not to read that massive $2 billion figure as the strongest possible signal to Uber: join up on our terms or die a long slow death in an area of the world that has tremendous long-term promise (thanks to low car ownership) but zero chance of near-term profitability (thanks to competition from Grab and much lower income levels).

2 Milliarden $ sagen: Wir machen es für jeden teuer, hier gegen uns voranzukommen.

Für Uber geht es um den schrittweisen Rückzug aus Märkten, die teuer erkämpft werden müssten. Grabs Südostsasien-Region ist da als nächstes an der Reihe nach China und Russland (Wo sich Yandex.Taxi mit Uber einigte):

Uber has now backed down in two countries (China and Russia), has lost the uber-aggressive Kalanick as CEO, and faces real questions about what its next fundraising round might look like.