SoftBank plans to cut 20% of staff at its Vision Fund unit

SoftBank Group Corp. is planning to lay off about 20% of the staff at its loss-making Vision Fund unit in what will be the biggest cut at the investment arm yet, according to people familiar with the matter.<br><br>Around 150 positions are expected to be eliminated at the Vision Fund, the people said, asking not to be named as the information isn’t public. The cuts would be across Vision Fund’s London and Tokyo offices and the staff members will be notified of the layoffs by the end of this month, one of the people said.<br><br>The move marks the latest attempt by Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son to restructure the universe’s largest tech investor following a record loss at the Vision Fund last year. The unit had already cut some jobs and closed its China office last year.<br><br>Son in November signaled deep job cuts at the Vision Fund, saying “we need to make the organization more compact”. The plans for the layoffs at the Vision Fund were previously reported by Bloomberg, which said in December that the unit may cut around 20% of its workforce.<br><br>The Vision Fund had about 800 employees at its peak, according to a person familiar with the matter, which would mean around 150-160 positions would be cut in the layoffs. SoftBank was forced to write down the value of many of its holdings, including stakes in Uber Technologies Inc. and DoorDash Inc., which led to a ¥3 trillion ($22 billion) loss at the Vision Fund last year.<br><br>SoftBank shares rose 0.5% in Tokyo on Wednesday.<br><br>The layoffs come as tech companies around the world are slashing jobs amid investor pressure to increase profits and as much of the world teeters on the brink of recession. Tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. cut thousands of positions late last year.<br><br>SoftBank, which is trying to invest more efficiently to turn the Vision Fund profitable, has already pushed some portfolio companies to cut costs and jobs.<br><br>A SoftBank representative declined to comment.<br><br>The layoffs come as SoftBank is preparing to list shares of chip designer Arm Ltd., which could raise billions of dollars to help finance new investments. The IPO is expected in September at the earliest and Masayoshi Son, SoftBank chief executive, has promised shareholders that profits from the IPO would be put to good use.<br><br>SoftBank has deployed a new strategy to manage its portfolio companies more proactively, which has already led to the departure of some partners at the Vision Fund.<br><br>Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure left SoftBank in January and Rajeev Misra, the architect of the Vision Fund and its former CEO, will step down as CEO of the Vision Fund but will retain a role as chief investment officer at the Vision Fund.<br><br>SoftBank has also cut some jobs in other departments and its overall headcount could reduce by around 20% to 30% over the next three years, Bloomberg reported in December.<br><br>*By Takashi Mochizuki and Syndicate Casting (Bloomberg)*