SoftBank's shares also rose last week after reporting its own financial results, earning about $6.4 billion in profit in the last three months of 2023. This was its first quarterly profit in five quarters, partly due to gains from portfolio companies ByteDance, DoorDash, and Oyo. Despite some failures, Arm remains a bright spot in Son's portfolio, which has included startups like WeWork and FTX.
Key takeaways:
- Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank Group, has seen his net worth increase by 50% in less than a year, largely due to the soaring share price of chip designer Arm and SoftBank's first quarterly profit in over a year.
- SoftBank, which owns approximately 90% of Arm, reported a profit of about $6.4 billion in the last three months of 2023, its first quarterly profit in five quarters.
- Arm was acquired by SoftBank for $32 billion in 2016 and listed on the Nasdaq in 2023 in the year's biggest IPO. A proposed sale of Arm to Nvidia for $40 billion in 2020 fell through in 2022 due to regulatory scrutiny.
- Son sold his early-stage venture capital fund SoftBank Ventures Asia to TheEdgeOf, a Singapore-based investment firm owned by his younger brother, Taizo Son, in April 2023. The fund, now rebranded as SBVA, backed two startups on Forbes Asia's 100 to Watch list in 2023.