Japan's SoftBank (SFTBF 5.36%) is finding slim interest among deep-pocketed investors for the sequel to its gargantuan $100 billion Vision Fund investment pool. The Wall Street Journal reported today that a new fund originally projected at $108 billion may end up raising less than half the targeted amount, with most of the capital contributed by SoftBank itself.
The Journal reported that Vision Fund's two biggest investors, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Abu Dhabi's state-controlled Mubadala Investment Co., have balked at bankrolling the new fund. Adding complexity to the situation, activist investor Elliott Management Corp. is arguing for SoftBank's management to allocate excess cash to share repurchases to boost the company's lagging stock price. The hedge fund has a particularly loud megaphone given a $2.5 billion equity interest in SoftBank.
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An unsurprising show of cold feet?
Observers in the venture capital world may have seen the potential funding shortfall coming. SoftBank's CEO Masayoshi Son brought his intuitive and visionary style to the Vision Fund, and concentrated outsized bets in a number of rising startups. However, the very public unraveling of WeWork's IPO in late 2019 is indicative of a wider phenomenon in Vision Fund's portfolio: Many of its investments are struggling to generate profits and positive cash flow.
The Journal reported that key SoftBank executives believe that the company should slow down its approach, concentrating on one-off investments, or perhaps launching a smaller hedge fund. Such a change in direction may clash with Mr. Son's penchant for intuitive, mammoth bets on promising start-ups. One takeaway appears certain: SoftBank will have less firepower to concentrate on Mr. Son's next round of favored technology disruptors.
