SoftBank announced the departure of its COO and President Nikesh Arora from 01 July. Arora joined Softbank from Google in September 2014 and helped lead the reorgnisation of the group's domestic and international activities and manage its large portfolio of internet investments. He was expected to take over eventually from Softbank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son.
Son said in a statement that he had planned to hand the reins to Arora after his 60th birthday but has now decided that he wants to hold the top job for another 5-10 years and "develop a few more crazy ideas". Saying he did not want to keep Arora waiting for the CEO job, they agreed he would move to an advisory role, "while he zeroes on his next challenge".
Arora's departure comes a day after a special committee of independent board members at Softbank completed an investigation into allegations from shareholders against Arora, saying "the claims concerning the conduct of Mr. Arora during his tenure at SBG are without merit". The allegations had been raised in a number of letters from a law firm which claimed to represent the interests of certain unidentified Softbank and Sprint shareholders.
The special committee was formed in February. Arora had been the subject of criticism for his high pay and strategy of investing Softbank in a wide range of internet companies and start-ups while still remaining an adviser to a private equity company, the Wall Street Journal reports. The company has since reined in its investments, selling stakes in several companies such as Supercell and Alibaba, in order to focus on its core operations and strengthen the balance sheet under a programme called 'Softbank 2.0'.
