Elliott Amasses SoftBank Stake, Wants a $15 Billion Buyback
- Fund founded by Singer has stake worth more than $2 billion
- Elliott is targeting Masayoshi Son’s company for a second time
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Activist investor Elliott Investment Management has built a sizable stake in SoftBank Group Corp. and is pushing the Japanese investment firm to launch a $15 billion buyback, according to people familiar with the matter.
The fund founded by billionaire Paul Singer has amassed a stake worth more than $2 billion and engaged with SoftBank executives in recent months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Elliott is saying that a share repurchase of that magnitude would help founder Masayoshi Son signal to the market his confidence in SoftBank. Its shares rose 4.6% in Tokyo on Wednesday, their biggest gain since March.