SoftBank Poised to Reap $16 Billion Profit as Coupang Boosts IPO

  • Korean e-commerce giant now seeking to raise $4.08 billion
  • SoftBank owns about a third of company dubbed Korea’s Amazon
Eco-bags carrying fresh food are laser scanned at a Coupang fulfillment center in Bucheon, South Korea, on Feb. 19.Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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SoftBank Group Corp., the biggest shareholder in Coupang Inc., stands to reap an enormous windfall when the South Korean e-commerce leader goes public this week, giving founder Masayoshi Son further evidence his often-criticized startup bets are paying off.

The Japanese company owns about 35% of the startup and could report an unrealized gain of as much as $16 billion after Coupang raised the target price range for its initial public offering. That would be the SoftBank Vision Fund’s largest-ever startup profit booked in a single quarter since it began reporting results in 2017.