SoftBank falls as Son says business as usual after record loss

SINGAPORE (Nov 11): Masayoshi Son wants investors to believe that a record loss from investments in money-losing start-ups WeWork and Uber Technologies is but a bump in the road. Some are not buying it.

SoftBank Group Corp’s shares fell as much as 4.2% in Tokyo trading on Nov 7, the biggest intraday decline in about six weeks. The Japanese conglomerate recorded an operating loss of ¥704.4 billion ($8.8 billion) after write-downs in WeWork and other investments, its first such loss in 14 years and the biggest quarterly shortfall ever. The US$100 billion ($136 billion) Vision Fund, the unprecedented investment fund that had been producing big profits, lost ¥970.3 billion.