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Takahiko Hyuga
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 11, 2021
Masayoshi Son to make personal investments with SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Business leaders don't usually mix personal interests with corporate responsibilities in order to avoid conflicts of interest, especially when there are public shareholders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 29, 2021
SoftBank pulls the plug on its flagship Pepper 'humanoid' robot
The u00a5198,000 robot was a project Masayoshi Son once personally championed as a symbol of his conglomerate's ambitions in AI and technology.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2021
SoftBank-backed Jellysmack eyes global expansion and acquisitions
The New-York based company helps online content creators and brands promote their offerings across platforms like Instagram and YouTube, taking a share of revenue in return.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2021
SoftBank tumbles after record profit fails to impress
Investors are skittish about whether SoftBank will keep buying back its own stock after completing a u00a52.5 trillion allotment for repurchases.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 13, 2021
SoftBank sells $2 billion in Uber stock as services recover
Uber's food delivery business has surged during the pandemic, making up for losses suffered by its ride-hailing service.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 19, 2020
SoftBank hits 20-year high as investors embrace defensive stance
The Tokyo-based company's stock gained more than 3% to u00a57,244, the highest level since March of 2000 in the midst of the dot-com boom.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2020
SoftBank to combine frenzy of SPACs with CEO’s eccentric vision
For Masayoshi Son, creating such a vehicle may give him a new way to invest in nascent companies while tapping the surging public markets for money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 25, 2020
Masayoshi Son cuts SoftBank shares pledged to lenders by $810 million
Son trimmed his committed shares by about 14 million to 213 million, according to regulatory filings.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2020
SoftBank’s big options bet tests investors' faith in Masayoshi Son
The firm's position has injected a jolt of uncertainty into the market, with questions about exposure and plans for future trading.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 19, 2020
SoftBank to dispatch executives to help stricken Oyo
Cuts in Japan by the online hotel operator come as it adapts to a much smaller tourism industry in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 13, 2020
After 133% rally, SoftBank investors bet there’s more to come
Founder Masayoshi Son has made a career out of confounding his doubters, and analysts see plenty of upside to his company's share price despite all its recent troubles.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 6, 2020
SoftBank startup Oyo slashing footprint and head count in Japan
The moves extend its ongoing effort to downsize internationally as it adapts to a tourism industry crushed by the coronavirus.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 13, 2020
Masayoshi Son’s $2 billion guarantee at risk as virus sickens SoftBank star Oyo
Just nine months ago, Masayoshi Son publicly declared Ritesh Agarwal one of the star entrepreneurs backed by his SoftBank Group Corp. The billionaire boasted that Agarwal’s Oyo Hotels & Homes was poised to overtake the biggest hotel chains in the world just a few years after its founding.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2020
Masayoshi Son's big real estate venture with Oyo runs into real problems in Japan
Last March, months before the meltdown at WeWork, Masayoshi Son worked through the prospects for another one of his favorite portfolio companies — a startup from India called Oyo.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 11, 2020
Paul Singer versus Masayoshi Son: Billionaires playing nice — for now
Paul Singer earned his reputation as a take-no-prisoners brawler by challenging the interests of Argentina's government and South Korea's family businesses. With his latest investment, though, the American activist investor appears to be taking a more collaborative approach.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2019
Masayoshi Son's bankers worried about their favorite client
Masayoshi Son's bankers are taking a hard look at their most important client.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2019
SoftBank will have 'last laugh' on WeWork deal, analyst predicts
SoftBank Group Corp.'s massive investment in WeWork triggered a multibillion-dollar write-down and a rare apology from founder Masayoshi Son. But one analyst argues the deal is likely to work in the end and SoftBank will have the "last laugh."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 9, 2019
Spritely seniors in Japan signing up to deliver on foot for Uber Eats
Uber Technologies Inc.'s strategy for Japan, where ride-sharing is banned, is as unique as the country itself — think grandma in running shoes delivering ramen noodles.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2019
SoftBank Vision Fund weighs backing Vaak's crime-busting tech
Vaak Inc., a Japanese start-up backed by SoftBank Group Corp., said that it is lining up a ¥2 billion ($18 million) cash injection in August and that the Vision Fund could provide further funding, as the company takes its violent crime prevention software global.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 19, 2019
Private equity sees hot opportunity in Japan's traditional onsen inns
For Japan's growing flood of foreign tourists, one of the top internet search terms is onsen, the traditional hot springs where travelers have soaked since the days of the samurai. Now some of the world's oldest businesses are attracting big new money.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?