The scale and influence of Japan’s Softbank has long given it the power to move markets. The bank’s $100 billion Vision Fund, backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, invested in tech unicorns like Uber and WeWork and transformed Silicon Valley. But the company’s outsize sway has now landed it in hot water; Softbank stands to lose at least $1.5 billion in collapsed fintech company Greensill Capital, its Vision Fund 2 is struggling to raise outside funding, and its trading arm is believed to have made a blizzard of high-risk investments last year that rattled Wall Street and called into question the bank’s long-term strategy. Softbank’s founder, Masayoshi Son, has bounced back before, having lost $75 billion when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. But for some investors, the bloom is off the rose.
- Essay: The Tyre Nichols Videos Demand Solemnity, Not Sensationalism
- For People With Disabilities, Losing Abortion Access Can Be a Matter of Life or Death
- Inside the Stealth Efforts to Smuggle Starlink Internet Into Iran
- Natasha Lyonne on Poker Face and Creating Characters Who Subvert Leading-Lady Tropes
- How to Help the Victims and Community After the Monterey Park Shooting
- Why Grocery Staples Are So Expensive Right Now
- Quantum Computers Could Solve Countless Problems—and Create a Lot of New Ones
- Where to Watch All of the 2023 Oscar Nominees
- How to Be Mindful if You Hate Meditating