Startups Drill $10 Bn Hole In Softbank

Vision Fund piles up a total loss of $18 bn

- Sam Nussey

Japan's SoftBank Group Corp reported a stunning $18 billion loss at its giant Vision Fund, pushing Masayoshi Son’s conglomerate to a record loss and highlighting the deepening crisis at its portfolio companies from the global downturn.

The disastrous 1.9 trillion yen ($18 billion) operating shortfall at the Saudi-backed Vision Fund, including losses of almost $10 billion at office-sharing firm WeWork and ride-hailing app Uber Technologies Inc alone, left SoftBank with its worst annual loss of 1.4 trillion yen.