SoftBank announces major share buyback, narrows losses

TOKYO — Japanese investment giant SoftBank reported narrower first-quarter losses on Wednesday and announced a major share buyback to reassure investors and help finance a pivot into artificial intelligence.

Hit by weakness in its Vision Fund investment vehicles and a weak yen, SoftBank posted a net loss of 174.3 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in April-June, a big improvement on the 477.6 billion yen loss seen a year earlier.

Its announcement of a buyback worth up to 500 billion yen followed pressure from activist investor Elliott Investment Management, Bloomberg News reported.

SoftBank, which was founded by the charismatic Masayoshi Son, made its name through spectacularly successful bets on tech giant Alibaba and Internet pioneer Yahoo.

But other investments have also catastrophically failed, most notably in office-sharing firm WeWork.

Son, 66, now wants to pivot towards investments in artificial intelligence firms, with its coffers boosted by proceeds from the initial public offering of chip designer Arm in 2023.