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Softbank's Nikesh Arora commits $482 million to the firm

  • Holden Mann
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Softbank President and COO Nikesh Arora has invested JPY60 billion ($482 million) in the firm in a personal stock market transaction.

In a statement issued by Softbank, Arora said that he decided to make the investment as a show of commitment to the firm's future. Arora paid for the investment with a combination of his own savings and borrowed money. The deal will be conducted over the next six months as a program trade.

Arora was named COO in May, the same time he replaced founder Masayoshi Son as president; Son has remained the CEO of Softbank. He joined the company in September 2014, originally serving as head of Softbank Internet & Media Inc. Prior to that, he was a senior vice president and chief business officer at Google.

Speaking about Arora's investment, Son said that he and Arora "plan to work together for many years to make the SoftBank Group a sustainable success for decades to come. I expect him to succeed me at the appropriate time."

This is Son's most recent indication that he envisions Arora replacing him as CEO.

Arora has overseen a number of high-profile investments in Asia's technology sector during his time at Softbank, including a $600 million round for China's Kuaidi Dache in January and a $90 million round for India's Housing.com in December.

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