SoftBank Ratchets Up D.C. Lobbying to Boost Its Startups
The tech investing powerhouse wants to influence everything from autonomous driving rules to commercial spacecraft policy.
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Masayoshi Son’s Midas touch has been wearing off lately. The SoftBank Group Corp. chief executive officer is seeing some of the company's largest investments crumble while struggling to raise a new technology fund and keep an activist investor at bay. On Wednesday, he made a rare appearance on Twitter to propose a solution to the shortage of coronavirus tests. The plan was immediately panned, and Son quickly walked it back.
However, there’s one part of Son’s team where the charm offensive looks like it’s working: SoftBank’s Washington lobbying operation.