Japan’s Soft-Bank overseas business chief exits in latest churn

Japan’s Soft-Bank Group Corp said on Wednesday it had named Alex Clavel as chief executive officer of its SoftBank Group International (SBGI) unit, replacing Michel Combes, who is leaving after just six months in the role.

SoftBank transformed the tech industry with big bets on late-stage startups, but the conglomerate has given up much of its executive team and has been forced to radically scale back investment activity through its Vision Fund as its portfolio shrinks. collapses.

The executive, who spent 19 years at Morgan Stanley before joining SoftBank in 2015, was involved in the restructuring of shared office space firm WeWork and the integration of Latin American funds into Vision Fund following the departure of COO Marcelo Claure.

The recent departures underscore the dominance of CEO Masayoshi Son of the Japanese conglomerate and his board at a time of strategic drift. Son will address shareholders on Friday.

They are “needing people who will provide protection, give advice and make it even more successful,” outgoing SoftBank board member Lip-Bu Tan wrote in a statement earlier this month, adding that “bad Decisions made too quickly can have negative consequences for the company.”