Softbank CEO compares himself to 'misunderstood' Jesus Christ as he defends £13billion annual loss following bizarre presentation on how 'unicorns will survive the valley of coronavirus'
- Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, 62, held a controversial earnings call Monday
- The investment group's $100bn Vision Fund value fell by $13bn last fiscal year
- Mr Son used slides illustrated with unicorns falling into a ravine amid Covid-19
- He said some businesses would grow wings and fly back out the other side
The CEO of Softbank has compared his suffering during the coronavirus pandemic to 'misunderstood' Jesus Christ as he defended a £13billion annual loss.
Founder Masayoshi Son, 62, also used slides illustrated with a set of unicorns falling into a ravine to demonstrate the effect of coronavirus during an earnings call on Monday.
'The situation is exceedingly difficult,' Mr Son said during the call, according to Bloomberg. 'Our unicorns have fallen into this sudden coronavirus ravine. But some of them will use this crisis to grow wings.'
Another slide shows a single unicorn flying back out of the hole, indicating some businesses would survive the economic slump.
Softbank founder Masayoshi Son (pictured), 62, held an earnings call on Monday after the investment group's $100 Vision Fund plummeted in value by $17.7bn
The businessman offered few clues as to which of the fund's 88 portfolio companies would eventually succeed.
The investment company's $100billion Vision Fund plummeted in value by $17.7bn (1.9 trillion Yen) when bets including car-booking companies Uber and Didi and hotel company Oyo were badly hit by Covid-19.
Another group Softbank invested in was office-sharing platform WeWork, which has seen a monumental drop in value from $47bn in January 2019 to now just $2.9bn.
WeWork had been valued at $7.9bn at the end of September when the Japanese company agreed to a bailout - but the coronavirus pandemic has seen its profits plummet once again.
Other businesses would be strong enough to fly over the ravine. Mr Son offered few clues as to which of the fund's 88 portfolio companies would eventually succeed
Three people on the call said Mr Son claimed Jesus Christ was also misunderstood and criticised, reported The Financial Times.
He added that his reputation would improve if the investments sky rocketed.
Mr Son is well known for his quirky turns of phrase. He once quoted Yoda from Star Wards and asked his investors to 'listen to the force'.
He also suggested The Beatles were not popular when they first started, in an effort to reassure his investors over the significant loss.
Softbank has not responded to MailOnline's request for comment.
Mr Son is also believed to have compared the current economic crisis to the Great Depression of the 1930s, which he said it took Dow Jones 25 years to recover.
The company will be using its own money for a second Vision Fund, and Mr Son warned on Monday that it may not pay a dividend for the next financial year for the first time since 1994 (file image)
In a busy week for the company, founder of Chinese internet company Alibaba, Jack Ma (pictured in January), stepped down as director after 13 years
He expects 'a similar impact' from the shutdown of the economy during the global coronavirus pandemic.
The company will be using its own money for a second Vision Fund, and Mr Son warned on Monday that it may not pay a dividend for the next financial year for the first time since 1994.
In a busy week for the company, founder of Chinese internet company Alibaba, Jack Ma, 55, stepped down as director after 13 years.
Mr Son said winners from the current crisis included companies in food delivery, online medical services, video streaming and online shopping. Overall, the pandemic has been a disaster for the fund.
He did not state exactly which businesses were likely to become flying unicorns and survive the crisis.
'If Son had a good idea of what these companies are he would have singled them out,' said Amir Anvarzadeh, market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors.
SoftBank has limited exposure to areas like online education and streaming, with TikTok parent Bytedance one notable exception.
In food delivery, there has been demand from locked-down consumers but vendors also have faced disruptions, including being forced to shut down.
Online medical services, such as Ping An Healthcare and Technology, have seen an upswing, although questions remain over the broader application of this type of healthcare technology.
Son's thesis that a small number of hits can make up for other failures is typically applied to early-stage investment, because there's greater potential upside.
But the Vision Fund has focused on late-stage startups, meaning there may be less uplift.
Son's business empire is 'becoming increasingly isolated,' Mio Kato, analyst at LightStream Research wrote in a note on the Smartkarma platform.
SoftBank has also been unable to secure further cash from the Vision Fund's big backers like Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund due to poor performance.
Without more funds 'Softbank can't raise its mark to market values by throwing more good money after bad,' Kato wrote. The fund's portfolio slipped underwater at March-end.
On Monday, Son repeated his pledge of no bailouts for struggling parts of the portfolio, although there are funds in reserve for 'follow-on' investments.In a busy week for the company, founder of Chinese internet company Alibaba, Jack Ma (pictured in January), stepped down as director after 13 years
He expects 'a similar impact' from the shutdown of the economy during the global coronavirus pandemic.
The company will be using its own money for a second Vision Fund, and Mr Son warned on Monday that it may not pay a dividend for the next financial year for the first time since 1994.
In a busy week for the company, founder of Chinese internet company Alibaba, Jack Ma, 55, stepped down as director after 13 years.
Son, under pressure from US activist fund Elliott Management, has been forced to sell down his Alibaba stake to fund share buybacks.
Mr Son said winners from the current crisis included companies in food delivery, online medical services, video streaming and online shopping. Overall, the pandemic has been a disaster for the fund.
He did not state exactly which businesses were likely to become flying unicorns and survive the crisis.
'If Son had a good idea of what these companies are he would have singled them out,' said Amir Anvarzadeh, market strategist at Asymmetric Advisors.
SoftBank has limited exposure to areas like online education and streaming, with TikTok parent Bytedance one notable exception.
In food delivery, there has been demand from locked-down consumers but vendors also have faced disruptions, including being forced to shut down.
Online medical services, such as Ping An Healthcare and Technology, have seen an upswing, although questions remain over the broader application of this type of healthcare technology.
Son's thesis that a small number of hits can make up for other failures is typically applied to early-stage investment, because there's greater potential upside.
But the Vision Fund has focused on late-stage startups, meaning there may be less uplift.
Son's business empire is 'becoming increasingly isolated,' Mio Kato, analyst at LightStream Research wrote in a note on the Smartkarma platform.
SoftBank has also been unable to secure further cash from the Vision Fund's big backers like Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund due to poor performance.
Without more funds 'Softbank can't raise its mark to market values by throwing more good money after bad,' Kato wrote. The fund's portfolio slipped underwater at March-end.
On Monday, Son repeated his pledge of no bailouts for struggling parts of the portfolio, although there are funds in reserve for 'follow-on' investments.
A stark change of tone from Son was reserved for WeWork, which as recently as November he said was heading for a rapid recovery.
The largest portfolio companies 'have a relatively good chance of passing through the valley of the coronavirus,' Mr Son said.
'The exception is WeWork.'
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