SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son delivers a speech at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo on June 20, 2024.
Kosuke Okahara | Bloomberg | Getty Images
SoftBank Group The company’s shares fell nearly 19% on Monday amid a global sell-off that wiped billions of dollars off founder Masayoshi Son’s fortune.
Shares in the Japanese giant, known as one of the world’s largest technology investors through its massive Vision Fund, have been falling since last Thursday as Japanese stocks began to fall after the Bank of Japan raised its benchmark interest rate.
According to Forbes’ instant billionaire rankings, Son’s net worth fell by $4.6 billion on Monday alone.
Meanwhile, the Nikkei 225 fell 12.4%, its worst day since “Black Monday” in 1987.
Before the decline over the past few days, SoftBank’s shares had risen this year, even hitting a record high, as the company’s Vision Fund unit continues to recover. Share price rises sharply armThe British chip designer, about 90% owned by SoftBank, has also contributed to the Japanese company’s share price appreciation this year.
But Monday’s plunge has left SoftBank shares up just 1.7% this year. According to CNBC calculations, SoftBank has lost about $28.3 billion in market value since Wednesday’s close.
SoftBank will announce its first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, and investors hope to see further recovery from the Vision Fund.
Son, who has been out of the public eye for some time, reappeared in June to discuss his vision for the future of artificial intelligence, which he predicts will eventually be 10,000 times smarter than humans.
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