The Vision Fund, once a significant player in the tech industry, is now a shadow of its former self. It has laid off over a hundred staff and significantly reduced the pace of its new investments. The reported figures do not include the sale of the fund's stake in chip designer Arm Holdings Plc back to SoftBank last year.
Key takeaways:
- SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund has sold off or written down billions of dollars’ worth of its publicly-listed holdings in recent years.
- This shift indicates founder Masayoshi Son's move away from venture capital deals towards strategic investments in semiconductors and artificial intelligence.
- Since the end of 2021, the fund's US-listed portfolio has shrunk by almost $29 billion, due to selling stakes in companies such as Coupang Inc., DoorDash Inc. and Grab Holdings Ltd.
- The Vision Fund has also laid off more than a hundred staff and significantly slowed new investments.