Comments
Global technology player and investment bank SoftBank Group (SBG) has given a clean chit to its president and COO Nikesh Arora and said that the allegations against him were baseless.
In January, US-based law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner, which claimed to represent the interests of certain unidentified SBG and Sprint Corporation shareholders, had written an 11-page letter alleging Arora of financial irregularities at SBG and also questioned his credentials as the COO of SoftBank. It had also demanded an investigation into Arora and his dismissal.
Taking cognizance of the matter, SoftBank had formed a review committee in February.
The special committee comprising Independent Members of the SoftBank’s Board of Directors investigated and reviewed the matter and concluded that the claims concerning Arora’s conduct at SBG are without merit. It conducted its review with the assistance of independent counsels from Shearman & Sterling LLP and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune.
‘1,000% confidence’ Masayoshi Son, CEO of the Japanese conglomerate, said, “As I said when these allegations first became public, I have complete trust in Nikesh and I am pleased the special committee has looked into these claims thoroughly and concluded they are without merit.” Son had, all this while, maintained that he had “one thousand per cent” confidence in Arora. Arora, a former Google executive, joined SoftBank in 2014 as president and Chief Operating Officer with an annual package of $135 million, making him the world’s third-highest paid executive. He is even seen by many as Son’s heir apparent.
Ever since Arora joined SoftBank, the investment firm’s focus has shifted largely to the Indian market and it has made several big-ticket investments in start-ups such as Snapdeal, Ola, OYO Rooms and Housing.com.
Son has made several visits to India and was a ‘star attraction’ at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Startup India Stand Up India’ event in January. While SoftBank’s total investments in India have exceeded $10 billion, a few of them have gone “horribly” wrong, according to experts. For example, the company pumped in about $100 million in real-estate portal Housing.com, which has been struggling after the ouster of its founder Rahul Yadav. The company’s valuation fell from $250 million in November 2014, to $50 million in October 2015.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.