`Forever young' son cuts successor nikesh loose

1. `Forever Young' Son Cuts
Successor Nikesh Loose
Masayoshi's Wish To Remain Boss At SoftBank Leaves No Room For
Arora

2. Contd…
Nikesh Arora, the heir ap parent at SoftBank, will step down from the Ja
panese company in a surprise departure after founder Masayoshi Son made
clear he wouldn't get the top executive role in the near future.The former
Google executive had come under fire from some investors over his
qualifications for the job. But Son said those criticisms played no part in the
departure. Rather, the founder said that he wants to remain at the helm of
the company for a few more years, while Arora aspired to be chief executive
officer more quickly . Arora will remain as an adviser to SoftBank.
Son, who had called Arora his likely successor earlier this year, decided he
wants to maintain control of the company he built from a computer software
distributor into one of Japan's largest telecommunications and investment
holding corporations. Still, the abrupt departure left analysts questioning the
motivation behind the events.

3. Contd….
“You can't really sprinkle any sugar on this one. This shows disunity ,“ said Amir
Anvarzadeh, manager of Japanese equity sales at BGC Partners Inc. “Given how
much Son was putting the responsibility of running the business into his hands, to
have him not there, I don't think anyone would say the share price will start going
up.“
Son praised Arora, one of the highest-paid company officials in the world, and
credited him with playing a pivotal role in Tuesday's deal to sell a majority stake in
Supercell Oy that valued the Clash of Clans developer at $10.2 billion. But Son said
he isn't ready to let go.
“I feel really terrible for ha ving inconvenienced Nikesh, but it would not be good to
go out while holding my feelings back,“ Son said at the briefing in Tokyo, as a
smiling Arora looked on. Arora's exit may deal a blow to SoftBank's global
aspirations. He was hired in 2014 after a decade at Google and promoted to
president in June of last year. He's since built his own operation within SoftBank, an
investment arm that will take stakes in technology companies around the world.

4. Contd…
Though SoftBank put money into startups for decades, including a
tumultuous foray during the dot-com bust, the effort had dwindled in recent
years to what Son called a “hobby“ next to his wireless and broadband
businesses. Arora revived the venture push and infused it with more
ambition.
Arora led a search for the next Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce leader that
pulled off the world's largest IPO in 2014. SoftBank is the biggest shareholder
in Alibaba. Arora spearheaded investments in Indian e-commerce provider
Snapdeal, ride-hailing service Ola, real-estate website Housing.com and
hotel-booking app Oyo Rooms. In October, SoftBank led a $1 billion fund
raising round for US-based online lender Social Finance.
“I'm very proud of what we achieved in the last two years,“ Arora said.
“Masa has learned that SoftBank has new muscles that it can exercise.“

5. Contd…
Still, SoftBank's shares have languished, beaten back in part by its ill-advised
investment in loss-making Sprint and its heavy debt load. Arora helped lead a
recent round of asset sales, including the Supercell deal, aimed at
strengthening the balance sheet.
A separate letter to the board of Sprint, which SoftBank controls, asked for
his removal as a director there for similar reasons. A special committee of
independent directors convened to look into the accusations found the
claims without merit, SoftBank announced Monday .
After the announcement, Arora took to Twitter with a flurry of more than 30
posts.He responded to well wishers and answered questions. One person
asked what he would do next. “The plan is no plan,“ Arora wrote.

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