At SoftBank’s annual shareholders’ meeting, Founder and CEO Masayoshi Son acknowledged the details of a succession plan for SoftBank Group Corp., addressing a key concern for investors about the company’s long-term future.
Son told investors he has several candidates for his successor within the technology group, which works closely with him every day. “I look forward to seeing a successor grow as quickly as possible so I can appoint them, but I still have some passion left and want to keep at this,” he added that he’s mentally prepared to hand over the reins whenever necessary, as long as it doesn’t hinder SoftBank’s growth.
Son has not yet disclosed who the succession candidates are.
Despite his succession plans, the 67-year-old said he intends to keep control of SoftBank for another ten years.
Moving forward, Son will focus on heavy investment in the AI boom. “We want to become the world’s top platformer for ASI,” he said. “It’ll be a winner-take-all arena.”
In the short term, the company intends to invest as much as $30 billion in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. SoftBank has also acquired UK startup Graphcore Ltd and is considering buying US-based Ampere Computing LLC. “These are indispensable for ASI,” Son said. “I’m all-in”.
SoftBank’s shares increased by 2.5% after Son’s announcement.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
