SoftBank Looks To Downsize Vision Fund Workforce By 20%; Employees Fear Job Cuts Up To 50%

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SoftBank Group Corp SFTBF SFTBY aims to slash at least 20% of employees at its loss-churning Vision Fund operation, Bloomberg reports.
The plan follows public pledges from founder Masayoshi Son to reduce the headcount at the leading tech investor.
SoftBank will slash a minimum of 100 positions, the report specified.
The cuts will mostly be in the U.K., U.S., and China operations. The Vision Fund unit had about 500 employees, including Latin America funds staff.
Executive fear downsizing of up to 50%.
Son shared widespread cost-cutting plans at his conglomerate and the Vision Fund investment arm after a record $23 billion loss.
Most of the losses came from a plunge in the valuations of portfolio companies, including Coupang, Inc CPNG and DoorDash, Inc DASH. SoftBank also reported a loss of $6 billion in foreign exchange.
Rajeev Misra, who helped Son set up the initial Vision Fund with almost $100 billion in 2017, quit as a corporate officer and EVP at SoftBank.
SoftBank raised over $17 billion by selling forward contracts on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA.
SoftBank began talks to sell asset manager Fortress Investment Group and launched a buyback plan of up to 400 billion yen.
Son targeted Arm Ltd's initial public offering in 2023.
Analysts raised possibilities of SoftBank going private, citing quarterly loss, pledge of heavy cost-cutting, and self-criticism.
Price Action: SFTBY shares traded lower by 0.41% at $19.54 on the last check Friday.
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