Top related persons:
Top related locs:
Top related orgs:

Search resuls for: "SoftBank’s"


25 mentions found


Last year, Son — who says he uses ChatGPT every day — is said to have met with Sam Altman, the A.I. That included talks for Son to provide up to $1 billion in funding to Altman and Jony Ive, the designer behind the iPhone, to create an A.I.-powered replacement for the smartphone. Bloomberg reported that SoftBank had hoped to be part of OpenAI’s last fund-raising round, but was instead wait-listed. Son is also trying to organize the auto industry around the use of A.I. The strike poses a significant threat to the U.S. economy, with analysts estimating it could cost up to $7.5 billion a week.
Persons: SoftBank, Son —, Sam Altman, Altman, Jony, Son, Cerebras Organizations: Bloomberg, Nvidia, Gulf Coasts, International Longshoremen’s Association Locations: OpenAI’s, ramping, A.I, British, Wayve, Gulf, U.S
In recent months, Mr. Son has been laying out plans for a new big bet: self-driving cars. Befitting his maverick approach, Mr. Son’s pitch does not resemble other efforts to develop autonomous vehicles. That way, the thinking goes, they will be able to overcome the challenges that have led some to abandon self-driving car efforts. In recent months, Mr.
Persons: Son Organizations: Honda Motor, Nissan, Uber Locations: Tokyo, United States, Japan, Europe
Arm faces lockup expiration
  + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: 1 min
In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailArm faces lockup expirationCNBC's Deirdre Bosa joins 'The Exchange' to report on SoftBank’s stake in Arm Holdings.
Persons: Deirdre Bosa Organizations: Arm Holdings
Read previewMasayoshi Son owes much of his success to an incredibly prescient dot-com era bet on Alibaba. The SoftBank chief first invested $20 million in Jack Ma's ecommerce upstart in 2000, when it was just a year old. That faith was handsomely rewarded, with SoftBank realizing an incredible $72 billion gain on its investments in Alibaba over the course of 23 years. Arm and the Vision Funds collectively represent 70% of SoftBank’s net asset value, a key performance indicator that reflects the total value of its holdings. Arm, SoftBank's latest golden child, is on course to deliver, but there is still much work to be done to get the Vision Funds back on track.
Persons: , Jack Ma's ecommerce, Ma, Son, Masayoshi Son's, Jack Ma, Alibaba, ChatGPT, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank, Uber, Sam Altman, he'll Organizations: Service, Business, Future Publishing, Vision, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Samsung, Nasdaq, Funds Locations: Alibaba, China, British, London
GM’s driverless ride heads into a ditch
  + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( Jonathan Guilford | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
A self-driving GM Bolt EV is seen during a media event where Cruise, GM's autonomous car unit, showed off its self-driving cars in San Francisco, California, U.S. November 28, 2017. Automotive giant GM acquired Cruise in 2016, subsequently bringing on investors including SoftBank’s (9984.T) Vision Fund, Honda Motor (7267.T) and Microsoft (MSFT.O). The question is whether GM’s autonomous division has enough momentum to recover from that loss. CONTEXT NEWSDaniel Kan, co-founder and chief product officer of General Motors’ autonomous taxi business Cruise, resigned from the company on Nov. 20, Reuters reported. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles suspended Cruise’s autonomous license in the state on Oct. 24, saying that the company had “misrepresented” the safety of its technology.
Persons: Elijah Nouvelage, Tesla, that’s, Cruise’s, Cruise, Kyle Vogt, Daniel Kan –, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Mary Barra hasn’t, SoftBank, Daniel Kan, John Foley, Sharon Lam Organizations: GM Bolt, REUTERS, Reuters, General Motors, Automotive, GM, Cruise, Vision Fund, Honda, Microsoft, Uber Technologies, Ford, U.S . National, Traffic, Administration, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Thomson Locations: San Francisco , California, U.S, San Francisco, California
Disney’s franchise fatigue taints M&A magic
  + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, Robert Iger, attends the premiere of "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" in Los Angeles, California, U.S. December 16, 2019. REUTERS/Phil McCarten Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Nov 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walt Disney’s (DIS.N) load-bearing franchises are cracking. Disney’s Pixar studio delivered its own opening weekend dud with “Elemental.” The Star Wars universe’s latest TV expansion, “Ahsoka,” was panned. Iger’s acquisitions of Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars’ Lucasfilm seemed a master stroke of M&A. A slowdown at his most prized acquisitions raises the stakes on his next M&A decisions at a time of increased scrutiny.
Persons: Robert Iger, Phil McCarten, Walt Disney’s, , Bob Iger’s, Iger, Nelson Peltz, Jennifer Saba, Orsted’s, Cameron, Jonathan Guilford, Streisand Neto Organizations: Walt Disney Company, REUTERS, Reuters, Marvel, Variety, Pixar, Disney, Star Wars, Lucasfilm, X, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S
Orsted’s ‘deputy heads must roll’ stance is risky
  + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
General view of the Walney Extension offshore wind farm operated by Orsted off the coast of Blackpool, Britain September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble Acquire Licensing RightsSINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Orsted’s (ORSTED.CO) recent implosion has finally prompted a reaction. Denmark’s $17 billion offshore wind producer on Tuesday said Chief Financial Officer Daniel Lerup and Chief Operating Officer Richard Hunter were stepping down. The COO is responsible for the procurement, construction, and operations of the wind farms, and supplier delays accounted for the lion’s share of Orsted’s U.S. writedowns. Yet Mads Nipper, who became Orsted chief executive in early 2021 and handpicked the departing duo, has been spared for now.
Persons: Orsted, Phil Noble, Daniel Lerup, Richard Hunter, Hunter, Lerup, Mads Nipper, Henrik Poulsen, Yawen Chen, Cameron, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, X, Thomson Locations: Walney, Blackpool, Britain, Rights SINGAPORE, United States, U.S
UK takeover net gets only slightly less bothersome
  + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gestures during an in-conversation event with Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk in London, Britain, Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via REUTERS Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rishi Sunak’s latest policy target is his own government’s M&A rules. The UK prime minister is consulting on changes to the framework for assessing when to block takeovers on national security grounds. The National Security and Investment Act gave the government power to “call in” and impose changes or block deals in specific sectors, such as defence. Moreover, stakeholders can only know whether a deal aligns with state industrial objectives if the UK has clearly understandable sector strategies in the first place.
Persons: Rishi Sunak, Tesla, Elon Musk, Kirsty Wigglesworth, Sunak’s, It’s, Neil Unmack, Cameron, George Hay, Oliver Taslic Organizations: British, REUTERS Acquire, Reuters, National Security and Investment, X, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, , China
Sunak rolls the dice with Cameron resurrection
  + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rishi Sunak's latest pivot is riskier than it might look. The British prime minister has appointed former leader David Cameron as foreign secretary, part of a reshuffle in which he sacked firebrand Home Secretary Suella Braverman. The move suggests Sunak may be looking to appeal to centrist voters ahead of next year’s national ballot, but that may also make his party more fragile. Cameron, who left parliament in 2016 after proposing a referendum on Brexit he then lost, isn’t an obvious choice for Sunak. Centrist voters may not forgive him for allowing an EU referendum and jumping ship shortly afterwards.
Persons: David Cameron, Suella Braverman, Cameron, Keir Starmer, Sunak, Neil Unmack, George Hay, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, firebrand, Greensill Capital, Conservative, X, Thomson
UniCredit’s Greek stake is less odd than it seems
  + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
But Italy’s UniCredit (CRDI.MI), which on Monday purchased 9% of Alpha Bank for about 300 million euros, should have better luck. This will include merging the lenders’ Romanian units and Alpha distributing UniCredit’s asset-management products in Greece. Probably the most reassuring news for investors in the Italian bank is that Orcel has no plans to raise its stake. UniCredit hasn’t requested regulatory permission to buy more and doesn’t envisage doing so, according to a person familiar with the matter. For shareholders, then, UniCredit’s mini-Greek adventure is unusual but easily tolerable.
Persons: Italy’s, Andrea Orcel, Crédit, Société, Orcel, UniCredit, UniCredit hasn’t, Liam Proud, Aimee Donnellan, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Piraeus Financial, X, SEC, Thomson Locations: Greece
SoftBank’s optimistic talk falls on deaf ears
  + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
SoftBank Group Corp Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son speaks during their joint news conference with Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda (not pictured) in Tokyo, Japan October 4, 2018. REUTERS/Issei Kato Acquire Licensing RightsSINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - All credit to SoftBank’s (9984.T) finance chief for trying to accentuate the positive. The weakening currency lopped off 183 billion yen. Taking such a big loss when analysts, per S&P Capital IQ, expected a $1.2 billion profit, though, was. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Persons: Masayoshi Son, Akio Toyoda, Issei Kato, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank, Antony Currie, Thomas Shum Organizations: SoftBank Group, Toyota Motor Corp, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, X, SEC, Thomson Locations: Tokyo, Japan, Rights SINGAPORE, Arm’s
With WeWork’s bankruptcy filing Tuesday , SoftBank has lost over $14 billion on its investments in the office-leasing company, an analysis of SoftBank filings and WeWork’s stock price shows. It is an astounding amount of money to have lost on a single company, and it marks one of the worst bets ever on a startup. The scale of the loss is especially striking given the industry: Competitor IWG, with similar revenue to WeWork, has a market value of $1.7 billion.
Persons: SoftBank
Dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” the annual Future Investment Initiative (FII) will welcome about 6,000 participants from more than 90 countries over the next three days. Since the Hamas assault on October 7, Israel has widened its offensive against the Palestinian militant group and other regional enemies. Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, denied any personal involvement in Khashoggi’s murder but later confirmed it was carried out by Saudi officials. Bin Salman chairs the Public Investment Fund. “Very few people” had canceled plans to attend the conference, according to Richard Attias, the CEO of the FII Institute, the event’s organizer.
Persons: Jamie Dimon, Citigroup’s Jane Fraser, Defense Lloyd Austin, Larry Fink, Goldman Sachs, David Solomon, Noel Quinn, Ray Dalio, Stephen Schwarzman, Harvey Schwartz, Blackstone, Carlyle, “ We’re, it’s, , Fraser, Fink, , Karen E, WeWork, Slack, Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi Arabia’s, Mohammad bin Salman, Bin Salman, bin Salman, Masayoshi, Richard Attias, Young, — Winston Lo, Michelle Toh Organizations: London CNN, , Future Investment Initiative, Defense, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces, West Bank, HSBC, Citigroup, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, Columbia University’s Center, Global Energy, CNN, Reliance Retail, Softbank’s Vision, Future Investment, FII Institute, Young of Columbia University Locations: Saudi Arabia, Israel, “ Davos, Gaza, Lebanon, Riyadh, Ukraine, Europe, United States, Washington, Russia, Saudi, Istanbul, Kingdom, Hong Kong
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/softbanks-son-says-artificial-general-intelligence-will-soon-surpass-humans-8bcdb47f
Persons: Dow Jones
Grocer profit will be sacrificed on UK food altar
  + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
LONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - British shoppers enjoyed a novel experience last month: lower food prices. Admittedly, the fall in the average food basket between August and September was just 0.1%, according to the British Retail Consortium. But it was the first monthly fall in food prices since July 2021 and brought down overall retail inflation to 6.2%, the lowest in a year. That’s good for consumers, especially those who like dairy products, margarine, fish and vegetables – the items that caused the overall fall. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Persons: Helen Dickinson, Francesco Guerrera, Aimee Donnellan, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, British Retail Consortium, Bank of, Grocers, X, Temasek, Thomson Locations: Bank of England
Temasek units put new spin on SPAC pass the parcel
  + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
SINGAPORE, Oct 3 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Convincing companies to list in Singapore, the tiny Asian financial hub, has long been a tall order. Hopes that special-purpose acquisition companies would be able to help looked ill-timed: three listed on the city-state’s exchange in January 2022, just as its stock market peaked and the appeal of blank-cheque firms was waning. The SPAC is sponsored by Vertex Venture Holdings, a venture-capital firm indirectly owned by Temasek. The SPAC maintains that Temasek is not involved in the business or operational decisions of any of these entities. Investment firms like Blackstone (BX.N)have offloaded portfolio companies to SPACs in the past – just not usually to ones they set up.
Persons: Antony Currie, Katrina Hamlin Organizations: Reuters, Technology, Corp, Vertex Venture Holdings, Temasek . Companies, Temasek, Blackstone, Vertex Technology, Singapore Exchange, X, Thomson Locations: SINGAPORE, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan
Birkenstock walks tightrope with $11 bln price tag
  + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
A pair of shoes is pictured in a window of a Birkenstock footwear store in Berlin, Germany, January 21, 2021. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Birkenstock is taking a bold step forward. Fresh from publicity from the Barbie movie, the German sandals maker is targeting a valuation of up to $11 billion, including debt, in its New York stock listing next week. Hoping to build confidence among investors, owner L Catterton has secured the backing of anchor investors including Bernard Arnault’s investing vehicle Financière Agache and Norway’s wealth fund. At $44 to $49 per stock, the offer values the group’s equity between $8.3 billion and $9.2 billion.
Persons: Fabrizio Bensch, L Catterton, Bernard Arnault’s, Martens, Pamela Barbaglia, Lisa Jucca, Oliver Taslic 私, Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Nike, 「 Reuters Locations: Berlin, Germany, New York
Asymmetric pay policy keeps US prone to shutdown
  + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - U.S. legislators could use more skin in the shutdown game. Lawmakers will collect their salaries during the halt, however long it lasts, but nearly 1.5 million public workers will go without wages. The average salary for a federal employee was already 24% lower than the private-sector equivalent last year, wider than 2021’s gap, according to the Federal Salary Council. The $174,000 annual salaries paid to each of the 535 U.S. legislators, meantime, will be unaffected. Their median net worth is just over $1 million, according to the nonprofit research outfit OpenSecrets, so the paychecks are important to most of them.
Persons: Kevin McCarthy, Jonathan Ernst, Ben Winck, Jeffrey Goldfarb, Sharon Lam Organizations: U.S, Capitol, REUTERS, Reuters, Republican Party, Federal Salary Council, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S
Cellnex’s Nordic towers sale is a good omen
  + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
LONDON, Sept 29 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Marco Patuano is starting with a small but firm step. After years of M&A-fuelled expansion, the new CEO wants to return Cellnex to investment grade and focus on organic growth and efficiency. Cellnex shares shot up 4% Friday, adding 1 billion euros to the group’s market capitalisation. If Patuano can keep finding buyers for his assets, he may soon return his company to investment grade. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
Persons: Marco Patuano, Patuano, Pierre Briancon, Lisa Jucca, Streisand Neto Organizations: Reuters, X, Thomson Locations: Italian
SoftBank’s AI dream team is far from iPhone killer
  + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
LONDON, Sept 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - SoftBank Group’s (9984.T) Masayoshi Son, former Apple (AAPL.O) iPhone designer Jony Ive, and Sam Altman, boss of ChatGPT’s creator OpenAI, are forming a seemingly exciting alliance. SoftBank, which is flush with cash after the Arm IPO, is putting up over $1 billion into the project. Several Big Tech companies have tried to build consumer devices that imitate the popularity of the iPhone, without much success. And AI queries may drain mobile batteries quickly, as some iPhone users have discovered. It’s unclear what kind of device Son, Ive and Altman have up their sleeves.
Persons: Group’s, Son, Jony, Sam Altman, OpenAI, Altman, Karen Kwok, , quagmire, Neil Unmack, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Apple, Financial Times, Big Tech, Counterpoint Research, Ericsson, X, Thomson Locations: Ukraine
Lululemon and Peloton truce removes one speed bump
  + stars: | 2023-09-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +2 min
Yoga mats are seen on display in a Lululemon Athletica store in Manhattan, New York, U.S., December 7, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly Acquire Licensing RightsTORONTO, Sept 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Lululemon Athletica (LULU.O) and Peloton Interactive’s (PTON.O) truce couldn’t have come fast enough. The apparel firm and exercise-bike maker said on Wednesday they entered into a five-year partnership to make Peloton the exclusive digital fitness content provider for Lululemon, while Lululemon would become Peloton’s primary athletic apparel partner. Peloton gains a foothold in apparel while Lululemon members will gain access to thousands of Peloton classes. It’s easy to envisage Lululemon offering Peloton subscriptions for a discount at checkout time, say, or for Peloton to send a free T-shirts with a bike.
Persons: Andrew Kelly, Lululemon, Sharon Lam, , quagmire, Lauren Silva Laughlin, Aditya Sriwatsav Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, X, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York, U.S
Prosus CEO exit leaves Tencent elephant in room
  + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Karen Kwok | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +3 min
REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Sept 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bob van Dijk is passing an unsolved problem to his successor. The Tencent stake that it owns made up about 75% of the group’s $130 billion portfolio value as of Sept. 15. His workaround was to instead sell little chunks of Tencent shares, and use the proceeds to buy back Prosus stock. Still, the gap reflects shareholders’ ongoing struggles to value Prosus. Neither Prosus nor the 50-year-old van Dijk gave a reason for his exit, but the persistence of the discount won’t have helped.
Persons: Bob van Dijk, Siphiwe, Ervin Tu, Africa’s, Van, van Dijk, It’s, Goldman Sachs, Prosus, Naspers, van Dijk’s, George Hay, Streisand Neto, Oliver Taslic Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Prosus, HK, Interim, Vision, Thomson Locations: Johannesburg, South Africa, Amsterdam, India, Brazil, Tencent
[1/2] A smartphone with a displayed Arm Ltd logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. The tech investment behemoth raised nearly $5 billion from Arm's offering while retaining 90.6% of the firm. Known for debt-fuelled acquisition sprees, SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son flagged in June that the company was shifting back into "offence mode" as he highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence. That's after a year of "defence mode" when tech valuations crashed amid higher interest rates and global banking jitters. Few companies in SoftBank's investment portfolio have demonstrated commercial utility in AI, analysts said.
Persons: Dado Ruvic, behemoth, Masayoshi, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank, SemiAnalysis, Kyle Stanford, There's, Amir Anvarzadeh, PitchBook's Stanford, Anton Bridge, Miyoung Kim, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Arm Holdings, SoftBank, HK, Vision, Nvidia, Asymmetric Advisors, Thomson Locations: British
[1/2] A smartphone with a displayed Arm Ltd logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. The tech investment behemoth raised nearly $5 billion from Arm's offering while retaining 90.6% of the firm. Known for debt-fuelled acquisition sprees, SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son flagged in June that the company was shifting back into "offence mode" as he highlighted the potential of artificial intelligence. That's after a year of "defence mode" when tech valuations crashed amid higher interest rates and global banking jitters. Few companies in SoftBank's investment portfolio have demonstrated commercial utility in AI, analysts said.
Persons: Dado Ruvic, behemoth, Masayoshi, Yoshimitsu Goto, SoftBank, SemiAnalysis, Kyle Stanford, There's, Amir Anvarzadeh, PitchBook's Stanford, Anton Bridge, Miyoung Kim, Edwina Gibbs Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Arm Holdings, SoftBank, HK, Vision, Nvidia, Asymmetric Advisors, Thomson Locations: British
SoftBank’s reduced Arm price tag is still too high
  + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Liam Proud | ) www.reuters.com   time to read: +7 min
The lesson for SoftBank and Arm is clear: chip investors are laser-focused on medium-term operating profit, not just revenue. Reuters GraphicsThere are three key moving parts to Arm’s valuation. Under SoftBank, Arm’s operating margin has dropped to around 25%, from roughly 40% in 2015 – a consequence of Son’s preference for heavy investments in research. If Arm nabbed the same multiple, its enterprise value would be $33 billion, using the above growth and operating margin. To mimic and sustain Nvidia-esque growth, Arm CEO Rene Haas would have to keep ramping up investments in engineers and sales teams, which would weigh on margins.
Persons: SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, Bernstein, they’ll, Rene Haas, SoftBank’s, it’s, George Hay, Katrina Hamlin, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, SoftBank, Nvidia, Cadence Design Systems, LSEG, Reuters Graphics, Apple, Devices, Vision Fund, Nasdaq, Thomson Locations: Cambridge, Saudi Arabia
Total: 25