Nikesh Arora sells $482mn SoftBank stake at loss on way out

Moneycontrol BureauNikesh Arora, who today said he was stepping down as COO of Japan's SoftBank, has sold his USD 482 million stake in the Internet firm.He disclosed this on Twitter after making the announcement that he was leaving the firm, following differences of opinion with the company's founder Masayoshi Son, who had decided to stay on as CEO for the next several years.Previously, Son had named Arora as the person who would likely take over as CEO from him soon.Arora joined SoftBank in September 2014 after heading the sales function at Google, and led a string of investments into a number of marquee Indian startups.In a bid to further highlight his dedication to SoftBank, in August 2015, he announced he would make a personal investment of JPY 60 billion (USD 484 million), including reportedly some from borrowing."As a measure of my commitment, I have decided to take a personal bet on the SoftBank Group and ensure an alignment of vision, with our founder and Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son. This is a large transaction for me, and involves taking an enormous risk in my life once again. However, I am extremely confident about the future of the SoftBank Group and the long-term objectives that we have set out,” he said, while announcing the largest-ever insider purchase in Japanese corporate history.Arora later told Bloomberg that his and Son's vision was to grow the tech firm "two, three, five times its size". "If we do double, triple the value of SoftBank, I’ll pay back my loan (to buy the shares) and give money to charity," Arora had said in the Bloomberg interview, adding that his long term inspiration was to be able to change the education system in India.Other reports said the duo's vision was to convert the telecommunications-cum-investment firm as a sort of (Warren Buffett's) Berkshire Hathaway of technology firms.But Arora's departure, which comes close on the heels of a complaint by shareholders who had questioned his investment approach, highlights a bet that may have gone wrong.SoftBank shares have fallen over 20 percent since August 2015 -- the time of Arora's investment announcement -- following concerns over some of its investments.It is not clear whether Arora has taken a haircut -- a likely prospect -- on his investment in his employer's shares. But the fact that he departed so soon after making such a mammoth bet on the firm's future itself looks an investment gone wrong.