SoftBank's Rajeev Misra to step aside from main roles to build and run a new fund

Rajeev Misra, one of SoftBank's top managerial personnel, is stepping aside from his primary roles at the Japanese investment conglomerate to build and run a new fund, according to an internal memo shared by Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's chief executive, excerpts of which was viewed by Moneycontrol.

Misra will transition from his role as the chief executive of SoftBank Global Advisers, which manages the Japanese investment conglomerate's second vision fund, to become its vice-chairman, Son said in the internal memo. Son will take on a more direct leadership role to manage the SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

"Rajeev (Misra) has taken a unique opportunity to build and run a new external multi-asset investment fund. Its investment remit will be much broader than SVF (SoftBank Vision Fund)," Son said in the memo.

Misra, however, will continue as the chief executive officer of SoftBank Investment Advisers, which advises the company's first vision fund--SoftBank Vision Fund 1, Son said in the memo.

News agency Bloomberg first reported the development saying Misra has already secured more than $6 billion in backing for his new venture, from Middle East investors.

Moneycontrol could not reach SoftBank for a comment. But, a spokesperson for the Japanese investment conglomerate confirmed Misra's decision to step away to Bloomberg.

Misra's move to step away from main roles at SoftBank comes six months after the Japanese conglomerate's chief operating officer Marcelo Claure resigned due to disputes over compensation. More importantly, it comes at a time when many of the Japanese investment conglomerate's bets turned sour with technology valuations plunging across the globe over the last six months.

SoftBank had said that it will be cutting its global investments by a fourth in 2022 owing to the fall in technology valuations across the globe.

SoftBank also reported a net loss of 1.7 trillion yen ($13 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31 2022 as its listed portfolio companies were hit hard by falling tech valuations across the globe with investors pricing in interest rate hikes and China tightening regulations on the industry.

In India, the Japanese investment conglomerate has been an aggressive investor and has invested over $14 billion in technology startups in the country.

Most of these investments have happened over the last five years. SoftBank has some of the country’s most-valued technology startups in its portfolio and in 2021 alone, SoftBank invested over $3 billion across 17 deals, Vikas Agnihotri, operating partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers had said at a media event in April.

SoftBank saw two of its biggest portfolio companies getting publicly listed in India in 2021, which was a bumper year for initial public offerings in the country. The two companies--fintech unicorn Paytm’s parent One97 Communications and Policybazaar’s parent PB Fintech--however, received varied responses from public investors. While PB Fintech’s share rose over 25 percent on its market debut, Paytm’s shares fell more than 20 percent on the listing day. Paytm, which was also the country’s largest-ever IPO then, is down over 55 percent from its IPO price.