Once hyped for their vast scale, SoftBank’s tech investment funds are now notable for their huge losses. These stood at ¥5.3tn ($39bn) for last year, setting a record of precisely the wrong kind for Masayoshi Son, founder of the Japanese tech investment group.
The value destruction stands as a monument to a year in which rising interest rates pulled the rug on tech stocks. SoftBank is the sector’s biggest and best-known bull. Its own shares have halved from their 2021 peak.
The group announced a final loss of ¥970bn ($7.2bn) in consolidated results for the year to March. The size of the loss is surprising, given a $29bn selldown of Alibaba shares. It is the company’s second year in the red.