Japanese conglomerate SoftBank today said allegations levelled by some shareholders against its Indian-origin President Nikesh Arora, including those questioning his conduct and qualifications, have been found to be "without merit".
Earlier this year, allegations had been raised in a number of letters from a law firm that claimed to represent the interests of certain unidentified SoftBank Group (SBG) and Sprint Corporation shareholders.
The letter called on the board to investigate and possibly dismiss the India-born executive, the second in command at SoftBank, questioning his trackrecord and qualifications as President and heir apparent to billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son.
A Special Committee (SC) of independent members of its board of directors has completed its review of allegations regarding SBG President and COO Nikesh Arora in a purported shareholder demand, SoftBank said in a statement.
"The SC has concluded that the claims concerning the conduct of Arora during his tenure at SBG are without merit," it added.
"As I said when these allegations first became public, I have complete trust in Nikesh and I am pleased the special committee has looked into these claims thoroughly and concluded they are without merit," Son said.
SoftBank said the SC was formed in February this year and it conducted its review with the assistance of independent counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune.
According to reports, the law firm had questioned whether the executive has conflicts of interest due to his existing role as a senior advisor to the private equity firm, Silver Lake.
It also suggested that the former Google executive may have been involved in past wrong-doing and generally poor business decisions.
Last month, Son had reiterated his confidence in Arora, saying "I have complete trust in Nikesh and one thousand per cent confidence in him and know he will continue to do great things for SoftBank in future".
Arora, 48, had also denied allegations against him as "baseless".
"I take my fiduciary responsibilities seriously and have acted appropriately and in the best interest of shareholders throughout my tenure at SoftBank and Sprint, just as I have conducted myself throughout my professional life. I am completely confident the allegations in the letter are baseless," he had said in a statement.
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