Breaking Seven Months of Silence! Masayoshi Son to Appear at SoftBank's Annual Shareholders Meeting

After seven months of silence, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will make his first public appearance at the company's annual shareholder meeting on Wednesday, June 21.

This is the first time in four years that Son has personally presided over this meeting. SoftBank's losses have become increasingly difficult for investors to ignore due to its focus on promoting ARM's listing, the recent downturn in the tech industry, and the global interest rate hike.

However, the recent boom in generative AI has brightened the IPO prospects of chip design companies. According to media reports, ARM is seeking to raise up to $10 billion in its IPO.

Meanwhile, in the second quarter of this year, SoftBank's stock price has risen by about 25%, with analysts adjusting their ratings and target prices for SoftBank, and it is expected to achieve its best quarterly performance in three years.

However, the outlook for SoftBank's flagship Vision Fund investment department still seems bleak. The decline in tech stock valuations has forced it to bear losses of billions of dollars for five consecutive quarters. Investment in SoftBank's funds has actually stopped, forcing the entire startup ecosystem to tighten its belt.

According to media statistics, SoftBank has invested in seven startups through financing rounds in the second quarter of this year, totaling about $550 million. In the same quarter two years ago, the investment scale of the Vision Fund department was as high as $15.6 billion.

In a letter to shareholders on May 29, Son wrote:

Although the downside risks caused by geopolitical risks and other factors are still unpredictable, innovative information technology is still developing rapidly. SoftBank is changing its comprehensive defense strategy. While maintaining financial stability, we will invest in promoting the information revolution and achieve a balance between "defense" and "offense."

Kirk Boodry of Astris Consulting believes:

It is difficult to say whether there will be significant changes in the information about the defense mode, but even if Son conveys the same information, he sounds more optimistic and focuses on the technology itself rather than the balance sheet.

ARM's IPO plays an important role in how the market views SoftBank. They must balance two things-they want to maximize the funds raised by selling equity, but they also do not want to encounter the situation they have encountered in many IPOs: IPO is the highest point.

The real uncertainty now is the performance of the public market, which is something that no one can control. Unfortunately, this is still closely related to the timing and valuation of ARM's listing.

Richard Kaye of Comgest Asset Management believes:

Son may explain his long-term view of the Vision Fund on Wednesday-whether to choose the most powerful future technology companies to integrate these companies' tools, or a conventional fund that seeks investors to buy and exit normally? Z Holdings Corp. and SoftBank Corp. in Japan are expected to be important sources of growth for SoftBank, bringing together highlights of the group such as social media service LINE and digital payment platform PayPay. However, I think some investors will be disappointed with this story. It would be helpful if Masayoshi Son could provide some comfort in this regard.

Wednesday will help investors better understand Masayoshi Son's own role, where he spends his time, and whether he will come back to speak to investors. I hope to see him come back.

Last November, at SoftBank's earnings call, Masayoshi Son announced that he would no longer attend SoftBank's earnings conferences and would hand over the group's daily management to CFO Yoshimitsu Goto and other executives. This was the first time he had done so in SoftBank's history.

At the time, SoftBank was facing losses. Masayoshi Son admitted:

"From the current situation, almost all the investments we have made, whether in the primary or secondary markets, have not performed well. Both listed and unlisted stocks have been almost wiped out, and the Vision Fund has also been hit hard."