SoftBank's embattled COO Nikesh Arora to step down

Arora will remain associated with SoftBank in an advisory capacity; in a disclosure, the company said he will also resign from the board of directors. His departure was attributed to Son's desire to remain in his position and lead SoftBank personally rather than turning the company over to Arora in a few years as originally planned.

Arora has faced growing criticism in recent months, with a number of SoftBank stakeholders accusing him of conflicts of interest and poor investment performance. In April an anonymous group of shareholders signed a letter that was posted online by Quartz, calling for SoftBank's board to investigate and possibly dismiss Arora.

Among the allegations made in the letter was that Arora used his positions at SoftBank and his previous employer Google to gain advantages for Silver Lake Partners, where he is a senior advisor. The letter also accused Arora of poor judgment in several investments he made as CEO of SoftBank Internet & Media (SIMI). Softbank called the allegations "unsubstantiated."

In a separate statement announcing the resignation, Son made no mention of the accusations against Arora, saying that he decided to stay on because he felt his work at SoftBank was not done and it would be unfair to ask Arora to wait longer until he was ready to step down.

"Nikesh and I have decided that he would move to an advisory role and continue to support SoftBank, while he zeroes in on his next challenge. He will continue to be a friend of SoftBank, and I will have my hand on his shoulder," said Son.

Arora joined SoftBank in 2014 as CEO of SIMI, having previously served as senior vice president and chief business officer at Google. Following his appointment as president and COO, he invested JPY60 billion ($482 million) in SoftBank as a show of commitment to the firm's future.

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• Topics
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