Rajeev Misra to step down at SoftBank Vision Fund

Misra, who helped SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son set up the $100 billion Vision Fund in 2017, will step down as co-head of SoftBank Investment Advisers and SoftBank Global Advisers

SoftBank Vision Fund co-chief executive officer Rajeev Misra will soon step down from his role at the Japanese group’s flagship technology investment vehicle, the company said.

The top Indian dealmaker at SoftBank, who helped its founder Masayoshi Son set up the $100 billion Vision Fund in 2017 and helped steer it through its rise and subsequent hurdles, will step down as co-head of SoftBank Investment Advisers and SoftBank Global Advisers.

Alex Clavel will assume sole leadership as chief executive of both units, the company said.

Two years ago, in August 2022, Misra had stepped back from his key roles as corporate officer and executive vice president of the parent company to run his own investment fund, One Investment Management (OneIM). The former Deutsche Bank executive launched OneIM with a corpus a $6.8 billion.

In a post-earnings call, chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto said Misra “has been one of the “great non-Japanese friends of mine, and I want to learn continuously from him and appreciate his contribution so far.”

During his 10-year stint with SoftBank, Misra, along with Son, made a flurry of successful early bets on Alibaba Group Holding and a range of startups across the US, China, and India.

The Vision Fund also made troubled investments, including WeWork, dog-walking app Wag and Greensill Capital

Misra will no longer have an official role at SoftBank, the company said.

SoftBank, meanwhile posted a 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion) net profit in the three months to September on higher share prices of listed firms in its Vision Fund investment vehicles.

The results beat street expectations for a 287 billion yen ($1.87 billion) profit based on the average of four analyst estimates compiled by LSEG, and compares with a loss of 931 billion yen in the same period last year, Reuters reported.

In the past quarter, SoftBank stake sales in Brainbees Solutions, which runs FirstCry, and electric motorbike maker Ola Electric Mobility via initial public offerings helped the investing giant generate a gain of more than $1 billion between them.

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