SoftBank’s Son Edges Back Into Dealmaking With a Bet on Autonomy
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Masayoshi Son
Photographer: Toru Hanai/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Masayoshi Son retreated almost completely from venture investing as his Vision Fund unit lost ¥6.9 trillion ($53 billion) in the last two years on startups like WeWork Inc., which just filed for bankruptcy. Now SoftBank Group Corp. founder is tip-toeing back into dealmaking after overhauling his strategy to make more modest, focused investments.
In one prominent example, Son has made a series of bets this year on autonomous technologies that could disrupt transportation and logistics. SoftBank agreed to put more than $1 billion into Stack AV, an autonomous trucking startup, and joined a $100 million joint venture with Symbotic Inc. to develop AI-infused warehousing.