Uber’s IPO flop puts spoke in wheel of SoftBank
Masayoshi Son’s group has lost about $9bn in market value despite profit more than tripling thanks to the valuation gain from its stake in the US ride-hailing giant
Tokyo — On Thursday, as his company booked a $3.8bn gain from its stake in Uber Technologies, CEO Masayoshi Son told SoftBank Group investors that their time has finally come. Instead, they are still waiting. The day after Son’s earnings presentation, SoftBank slid 5.4% and fell again on Monday, as dropping as much as 4.9%. Uber’s initial public offering (IPO) was a flop with shares sliding on the first day of trading, at the same time the US and China escalated tensions over their trade dispute. SoftBank has lost about $9bn in market value despite reporting last week that profit more than tripled thanks to the valuation gain from its stake in the US ride-hailing giant. Son has been remaking SoftBank Group from primarily a telecommunications operator into a technology investment firm, and his $100bn Vision Fund has begun to show promise as a major contributor to earnings. SoftBank’s stock had rallied almost 60% in 2019 ahead of the earnings. But the slide in the past two trading day...
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