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74-452: On 1 April 2015, Ymobile Corporation merged into Softbank Mobile Corporation (now SoftBank Corporation ), with the Y!mobile brand continuing to be used by the newly merged company. WILLCOM Inc. ( 株式会社 ウィルコム , Kabushiki-gaisha Wirukomu ) was a PHS operator based in Tokyo, offering flat-rate wireless network data transmission and flat-rate voice calls for its subscribers. The company

148-736: A subsidiary , alongside Toyota Tsusho subsidiary Eurus Energy . Kabushiki gaisha A kabushiki gaisha ( Japanese : 株式会社 , pronounced [kabɯɕi̥ki ɡaꜜiɕa] ; lit.   ' share company ' ) or kabushiki kaisha , commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK , is a type of company ( 会社 , kaisha ) defined under the Companies Act of Japan . The term is often translated as "stock company", " joint-stock company " or "stock corporation". The term kabushiki gaisha in Japan refers to any joint-stock company regardless of country of origin or incorporation; however, outside Japan

222-508: A "Vision Fund 2", excluding participation from the Saudi Arabia government and including investors Apple, Foxconn, Microsoft and others. The fund is reported to focus on AI-based technology and invest approximately $ 108 billion, including $ 38 billion of its own funds. In February 2020, however, a report from Wall Street Journal stated the fund would only up with less than half of that capital. On 8 June 2017, Alphabet Inc. announced

296-524: A $ 2.5 billion stake in Softbank and pushed for restructuring and more transparency, especially regarding its Vision Fund. Consequently, plans for a second Vision Fund were pushed back. In November 2019, it was announced that Line Corp. and Z Holdings were going to be a new subsidiary under Naver Corporation and SoftBank Group, their respective owners. The closing was delayed until March 2021 due to COVID-19. In March 2020, SoftBank announced that it

370-687: A $ 300 million SPAC in 2021, listing in Amsterdam. In July 2021, Softbank announced that it would acquire the Yahoo Japan brand from Verizon Communications for $ 1.6 billion. In August 2021, Son said he would begin to make personal investments alongside Softbank Group's Vision Fund 2 . In August 2022, Softbank said that it sold its entire Uber holdings in April–July 2022. It was also reported that Softbank exited Opendoor in that quarter. Five years after Masayoshi Son’s $ 100 billion fund entered

444-576: A $ 300m stake in WeWork. On 14 February 2017, SoftBank Group agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for $ 3.3 billion. In February 2017, it was announced that Social Finance Inc. was close to raising $ 500 million from an investor group led by Silver Lake , including Softbank. On 28 March 2017, the Wall Street Journal reported that SoftBank Group Corporation had approached Didi Chuxing Technology Co. about investing $ 6 billion to help

518-423: A (so-called) "close company" ( 非公開会社 , hi-kōkai gaisha ) , in which case the company (e.g. its board of directors or a shareholders' meeting, as defined in the articles of incorporation) must approve any transfer of shares between shareholders; this designation must be made in the articles of incorporation. The articles must be sealed by the incorporator(s) and notarized by a civil law notary , then filed with

592-675: A 40% stake in AutoStore for $ 2.8 billion and in July 2021, it announced it would invest $ 870 million in the Korean hotel booking platform Yanolja. In May 2021, Softbank stated it would sell SB Energy India to Adani Green Energy, valuing the unit at $ 3.5 billion. The sale is speculated to mark a shift in the company's trajectory, moving away from investments in solar energy towards companies dealing with artificial intelligence. Later that month, Bloomberg reported that Vision Fund could go public via

666-796: A 51% stake in Supercell for a reported $ 2.1 billion. Later on 25 October 2014, they invested $ 210 million in OlaCabs , $ 627 million in Snapdeal with a 30% stake in the company on 28 October 2014, and a $ 100 million investment in Housing.com for a 30% stake in November 2014. In 2013, the company bought a controlling stake in French company Aldebaran Robotics, which was rebranded SoftBank Robotics. In 2014, teams from both companies co-designed Pepper ,

740-511: A K.K. is carried out by one or more incorporators ( 発起人 , hokkinin , sometimes referred to as "promoters") . Although seven incorporators were required as recently as the 1980s, a K.K. now only needs one incorporator, which may be an individual or a corporation. If there are multiple incorporators, they must sign a partnership agreement before incorporating the company. The purpose statement requires some specialized knowledge, as Japan follows an ultra vires doctrine and does not allow

814-468: A K.K. must have a board of directors ( 取締役会 , torishimariyaku kai ) consisting of at least three individuals. Directors have a statutory term of office of two years, and auditors have a term of four years. Small companies can exist with only one or two directors, with no statutory term of office, and without a board of directors ( 取締役会非設置会社 , torishimariyaku-kai hi-setchi-gaisha ) . In such companies, decisions are made via shareholder meeting and

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888-477: A K.K. to act beyond its purposes. Judicial or administrative scriveners are often hired to draft the purposes of a new company. Additionally, the articles of incorporation must contain the following if applicable: Other matters may also be included, such as limits on the number of directors and auditors. The Corporation Code allows a K.K. to be formed as a "stock company that is not a public company" ( 公開会社でない株式会社 , kōkai gaisha denai kabushiki gaisha ) , or

962-474: A dominant site in the country. In another highly publicized investment, SoftBank bought 80% of memory manufacturers Kingston Technology in 1996. When the owners-founders (John Tu and David Sun) announced plans to distribute $ 100,000,000 of the $ 1.5B windfall to Kingston employees, it created a very high-profile media stir that lasted well through the 1996 Christmas season; it was on all US networks, as well as international media. A few years later, in 1999, after

1036-490: A humanoid robot. In 2015, SoftBank increased its stake to 95%. In 2015, SoftBank acquired DramaFever . In May 2015, Masayoshi Son said he would appoint Nikesh Arora , a former Google executive, as Representative Director and President of SoftBank. Arora had been heading SoftBank's investment arm. On 1 June 2015, SoftBank acquired an additional 22.7% stake in Supercell, increasing its total stake to 73.2% and becoming

1110-399: A minor issue when deciding how to structure a business in Japan. As all publicly traded companies follow the K.K. structure, smaller businesses often choose to incorporate as a K.K. simply to appear more prestigious. In addition to income taxes, K.K.s must also pay registration taxes to the national government and may be subject to local taxes. Generally, the power to bring actions against

1184-674: A new subsidiary and brand from Yahoo! Japan, Ymobile Corporation . On 15 October 2012, SoftBank announced plans to take control of American Sprint Nextel by purchasing a 70% stake for $ 20 billion. On 6 July 2013, the United States Federal Communications Commission approved SoftBank's acquisition for $ 22.2 billion for a 78% ownership interest in Sprint. On 6 August 2013, SoftBank bought 2% more shares of Sprint Corporation, increasing its ownership stake to 80%. In October 2013, SoftBank acquired

1258-463: A planned $ 200 billion project with SoftBank Group to build the world's biggest solar-power-generation project would be put on hold. In November 2018, SoftBank announced it would make an IPO of SoftBank Corp., the telecommunications operator, with the cost of share of $ 13.22 (which is 1,500 yen). The offer of the shares was going to last for a month. Regarding the number of shares, the total value of SoftBank Corp. will reach $ 21.15 billion, which would be

1332-576: A prefix (e.g. 株式会社 電通 , kabushiki gaisha Dentsū , a style called 前株 , mae-kabu ) or as a suffix (e.g. トヨタ自動車 株式会社 , Toyota Jidōsha kabushiki gaisha , a style called 後株 , ato-kabu ). Many Japanese companies translate the phrase " 株式会社 " in their name as " Company, Limited "—this is very often abbreviated as " Co., Ltd. "—but others use the more Americanized translations "Corporation" or "Incorporated". Texts in England often refer to kabushiki kaisha as " joint stock companies ". While that

1406-513: A price of less than ¥50,000 per share (effective 1982-2003 ), or operate with paid-in capital of less than ¥10 million (effective 1991–2005). On June 29, 2005, the Diet of Japan passed a new Companies Act ( 会社法 , kaisha-hō ) , which took effect on May 1, 2006. A kabushiki gaisha may be started with capital as low as ¥1, making the total cost of a K.K. incorporation approximately ¥240,000 (about US$ 2,500) in taxes and notarization fees. Under

1480-433: A record $ 36.99 billion profit from its Vision Fund unit and investment gains via the public market debut of Coupang . SoftBank Group's net profit was $ 45.88 billion (¥4.99 trillion). It was the largest recorded annual profit by a Japanese company in history. The same month, Softbank's Vision Fund 2 announced investment in the eToro SPAC merger PIPE of $ 650 million. In April 2021, Softbank announced plans to acquire

1554-617: A record 14.2% of shares, valued at $ 4.4bn, to boost investor confidence. On 31 March 2016, they announced they would sell shares worth $ 7.9 billion of their stake in Alibaba Group. On 21 June 2016, SoftBank sold its 84% stake in Supercell for a reported US$ 7.3 billion to Tencent . On 3 June 2016, Softbank agreed to sell most of its stake in GungHo Online Entertainment (approximately 23.47%) for about $ 685 million, ending Softbank's majority ownership. The offer

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1628-420: A subsidiary of SBI's holding company, making SBI independent. On 1 October 2006, Vodafone Japan changed its corporate name and service brand name to "SoftBank Mobile" and "SoftBank" respectively. On 28 January 2008, it was announced that SoftBank and Tiffany & Co. collaborated in making a limited 10 model-only phone. This phone contains more than 400 platinum diamonds, totaling more than 20 carats. The cost

1702-588: A subsidiary of eAccess, offering 3G/ HSPA+ / DC-HSDPA / LTE services. As they used to offer only data services they were not widely known, but after teaming up with NTT DoCoMo to offer voice services, they became more popular. EMOBILE had a reseller/virtual network arrangement with several fixed-line ISPs including ASAHI Net . As of March 31, 2009 their website claimed 90% coverage of Japan's population. As of April 17, 2009 EMOBILE introduced HSUPA to metropolitan areas claiming support for 5.8 Mbit/s. As of early 2011, 21 Mbit/s HSPA+ and 42 Mbit/s DC-HSPA+

1776-722: A value of US $ 40 billion in stock and cash. This would become the largest semiconductor acquisition to date. SoftBank Group would retain a 10% share in the company, while ARM would maintain its headquarters in Cambridge]]. But this deal collapsed due to regulatory hurdles. In December 2020, Hyundai Motor Group acquired an 80% stake of Boston Dynamics from SoftBank for approximately $ 880 million. SoftBank retains about 20% through an affiliate. In January 2021, SoftBank sold $ 2 billion in Uber Technologies shares through affiliate firm SB Cayman. In March 2021, SoftBank made

1850-456: Is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan which focuses on investment management . The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a multitude of markets and industries ranging from the internet to automation. With over $ 100 billion in capital at its onset, SoftBank's Vision Fund

1924-593: Is also combined into one Unicode character at code point U+337F ㍿ SQUARE CORPORATION , while the parenthesized form can also be represented with a single character, U+3231 ㈱ PARENTHESIZED IDEOGRAPH STOCK as well as parentheses around U+682A 株 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-682A and its romanization U+33CD ㏍ SQUARE KK . These forms, however, only exist for backward compatibility with older Japanese character encodings and Unicode and should be avoided when possible in new text. The first kabushiki gaisha

1998-630: Is available in major metropolitan areas, depending upon the subscriber modem used. On March 15, 2012, they began offering LTE service with initial advertised speeds of 75 Mbit/s. It is claimed that this speed will eventually increase to 112 Mbit/s. Total EMOBILE subscribers as of April 30, 2009 was 1.53 million. On January 1, 2013, eAccess became a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank Corporation (now SoftBank Group Corporation). eAccess merged with Willcom to form Ymobile in July 2014. SoftBank Corporation SoftBank Group Corp. ( ソフトバンクグループ株式会社 , SofutoBanku Gurūpu Kabushiki gaisha )

2072-448: Is close to a literal translation of the term, the two are not precisely the same. The Japanese government once endorsed "business corporation" as an official translation but now uses the more literal translation "stock company." Japanese often abbreviate " 株式会社 " in a company name on signage (including the sides of their vehicles) to 株 in parentheses , as, for example, " ABC㈱ ." The full, formal name would then be " ABC株式会社 ". 株式会社

2146-629: Is referred to as a company with a board of statutory auditors ( 監査役会設置会社 , kansayaku-kai setchi-gaisha ) . Close K.K.s may also have a single person serving as director and statutory auditor, regardless of capital or liabilities. A statutory auditor may be any person who is not an employee or director of the company. In practice, the position is often filled by a very senior employee close to retirement, or by an outside attorney or accountant. Japanese law does not designate any corporate officer positions. Most Japanese-owned kabushiki gaisha do not have "officers" per se , but are directly managed by

2220-486: Is said to be more than 100,000,000 yen. On 3 February 2010, SoftBank acquired 13.7% in Ustream . On 1 October 2010, Ayumi Hamasaki became the commercial spokesperson. On 3 October 2012, the takeover of competitor eAccess was announced. On 1 July 2013, SoftBank announced that Willcom was a wholly-owned subsidiary, after the termination of rehabilitation proceedings. eAccess was merged with Willcom, which resulted in

2294-510: Is the third-largest wireless carrier in Japan , with 45.621 million subscribers as of March 2021. SoftBank was ranked in the 2017 Forbes Global 2000 list as the 36th largest public company in the world and the second-largest publicly traded company in Japan after Toyota . The logo of SoftBank is based on the flag of the Kaientai , a naval trading company founded in 1865, near the end of

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2368-1074: Is the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund. Fund investors included sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East . The company is known for the leadership of its controversial founder and largest shareholder Masayoshi Son . Its investee companies, subsidiaries and divisions, including several unprofitable unicorns , operate in robotics, artificial intelligence, software, logistics, transportation, biotechnology, robotic process automation , proptech , real estate, hospitality, broadband , fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce , information technology , finance, media and marketing, and other areas. Among its most internationally recognizable current stockholdings are stakes in Arm (semiconductors), Alibaba (e-commerce), OYO Rooms (hospitality), WeWork (coworking) and Deutsche Telekom (telecommunications). SoftBank Corporation, its spun-out affiliate and former flagship business,

2442-527: The Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake from KDDI and spun off DDI Pocket in February 2005, with the new company called Willcom. The number of its subscribers passed four million on May 29, 2006. As an operator, it had mainly base stations of 500m W -radio output, unlike other PHS operators, which had mainly built 20 mW base stations. The high output level caused some radio interference and it

2516-545: The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF), the kingdom's main sovereign wealth fund, partnered to create the Softbank Vision Fund, the world's largest private equity fund with a capital of $ 93 billion. Softbank Group contributed $ 28 billion to the investment fund, of which $ 8.2 billion came from the sale of approximately 25% of British multinational Arm Holdings shares. Saudi Arabia is

2590-564: The Tokugawa shogunate , by Sakamoto Ryōma . Although SoftBank does not affiliate itself to any traditional keiretsu , it has close ties with Mizuho Financial Group , its primary lender. SoftBank was founded in September 1981 as SOFTBANK Corp by then-24-year-old Masayoshi Son , initially as a software distributor. The company entered the publishing business in May 1982 with the launches of

2664-497: The 1990s, Son made large investments in Internet services and the so-called new economy in general. SoftBank bought COMDEX from The Interface Group on 1 April 1995 for $ 800 million and ZDI on 29 February 1996. SoftBank sold COMDEX to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis , in 2001. In 1996, SoftBank formed a joint venture with American internet company Yahoo! , creating Yahoo! Japan (now LY Corporation ), which would become

2738-616: The German used-car sales portal Auto1. On 1 March 2018, Softbank's Vision Fund led a $ 535 million investment in DoorDash . In May 2018, CEO Masayoshi Son revealed during an earnings presentation that Walmart had reached a deal to buy Flipkart. On 27 September 2018, Softbank announced the investment of $ 400 Million in Home-Selling Startup Opendoor . In September 2018, Saudi government officials announced that

2812-585: The Illinois Business Corporation Act of 1933, giving kabushiki gaisha many traits of American corporations , and to be more exact, Illinois corporations. Over time, Japanese and U.S. corporate law diverged, and K.K. assumed many characteristics not found in U.S. corporations. For instance, a K.K. could not repurchase its own stock (a restriction lifted by the amendment of the Commercial Code in 2001), issue stock for

2886-478: The Legal Affairs Bureau in the jurisdiction where the company will have its head office. In a direct incorporation, each incorporator receives a specified amount of stock as designated in the articles of incorporation. Each incorporator must then promptly pay its share of the starting capital of the company, and if no directors have been designated in the articles of incorporation, meet to determine

2960-467: The Ministry of Finance. Under the new Company Law, public and other non-close K.K.s may either have a statutory auditor, or a nominating committee ( 指名委員会 , shimei-iin-kai ) , auditing committee ( 監査委員会 , kansa-iin-kai ) and compensation committee ( 報酬委員会 , hōshū-iin kai ) structure similar to that of American public corporations. If the company has an auditing committee, it

3034-451: The Oh! PC and Oh! MZ magazines, about NEC and Sharp computers respectively. Oh!PC had a circulation of 140,000 copies by 1989. It would go on to become Japan's largest publisher of computer and technology magazines and trade shows. In 1994, the company went public , valued at $ 3 billion. In September 1995, SoftBank agreed to purchase US-based Ziff Davis publishing for $ 2.1 billion. In

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3108-594: The company had been losing subscribers to competing networks with greater data speeds. In December 2010 SoftBank purchased 100% of shares issued by Willcom. Willcom was in the process of rehabilitation under the Corporate Rehabilitation Act. On June 1, 2014, Willcom was merged with eAccess and formed Ymobile. The company eAccess was established on November 1, 1999, by Dr Sachio Semmoto as an ADSL fixed line broadband provider. Semmoto founded EMOBILE Ltd. (イー・モバイル株式会社) on January 5, 2005, as

3182-412: The competitive advantage of PHS reduced, DDI-Pocket went through difficult years at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s. The declining market for PHS service has caused the launch of its flat-rate service and its buyout by Carlyle. On February 18, 2010, Willcom filed for bankruptcy with 206 billion yen in liabilities. This took place after Willcom was unable to reschedule its debt payments;

3256-425: The decision-making power of the directors is relatively limited. As soon as a third director is designated such companies must form a board. At least one director is designated as a Representative Director ( 代表取締役 , daihyō-torishimariyaku ) , holds the corporate seal and is empowered to represent the company in transactions. The Representative Director must "report" to the board of directors every three months;

3330-415: The directors on the corporation's behalf is granted to the statutory auditor. Historically, derivative suits by shareholders were rare in Japan. Shareholders have been permitted to sue on the corporation's behalf since the postwar Americanization of the Commercial Code; however, this power was severely limited by the nature of court costs in Japan. Because the cost to file a civil action is proportional to

3404-618: The directors, one of whom generally has the title of president ( 社長 , sha-chō ) . The Japanese equivalent of a corporate vice president is a department chief ( 部長 , bu-chō ) . Traditionally, under the lifetime employment system, directors and department chiefs begin their careers as line employees of the company and work their way up the management hierarchy over time. This is not the case in most foreign-owned companies in Japan, and some native companies have also abandoned this system in recent years in favor of encouraging more lateral movement in management. Corporate officers often have

3478-417: The exact meaning of this statutory provision is unclear, but some legal scholars interpret it to mean that the board must meet every three months. In 2015, the requirement that at least one director and one Representative Director must be a resident of Japan was changed. It is not required to have a resident Representative Director although it can be convenient to do so. Directors are mandatories ( agents ) of

3552-458: The financial world to much fanfare, Softbank’s venture firm was crumbling and on the verge of collapse. Its large venture vehicles struggled badly, performing in the bottom of the asset class, and many of Son’s closest associates in the effort had departed from the company. In February 2023, Toyota Tsusho announced that it had bought the controlling interest in SB Energy, which would become

3626-404: The incorporator, and then make payment for his or her shares by a date specified by the incorporator(s). Capital must be received in a commercial bank account designated by the incorporator(s), and the bank must provide certification that payment has been made. Once the capital has been received and certified, the incorporation may be registered at the Legal Affairs Bureau. Under present law,

3700-470: The initial directors and other officers. The other method is an "incorporation by offering," in which each incorporator becomes the stock underwriter of a specified number of shares (at least one each), and the other shares are offered to other investors. As in a direct incorporation, the incorporators must then hold an organizational meeting to appoint the initial directors and other officers. Any person wishing to receive shares must submit an application to

3774-437: The legal title of shihainin , which makes them authorized representatives of the corporation at a particular place of business, in addition to a common-use title. Kabushiki gaisha are subject to double taxation of profits and dividends, as are corporations in most countries. In contrast to many other countries, however, Japan also levies double taxes on close corporations ( yugen gaisha and gōdō gaisha ). This makes taxation

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3848-520: The majority ownership due to a decision made by Softbank to sell off the stake to the local partner. For Q2 of 2020, the company's revenues were $ 12 billion. The firm announced that it would be arranging a new fund worth $ 555 million. The fund will be used to invest in various companies, including Amazon , Apple and Facebook . In September 2020, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led a $ 100 million Series C round in Biofourmis. Also in September 2020, Softbank

3922-485: The market for memory softened substantially, SoftBank sold the company back at a loss to the original owners for about a third of the original price. In October 1999, SoftBank became a holding company . In 2000, SoftBank made its most successful investment – $ 20 million to a then-fledgling Chinese Internet venture called Alibaba . This investment turned into $ 60 billion when Alibaba went public in September 2014. In February 2000, SoftBank Ventures Asia

3996-475: The new T-Mobile's shares, while 43% of shares are held by Deutsche Telekom. The remaining 33% will be held by others. In May 2020, Alibaba 's co-founder and former CEO Jack Ma resigned from the board. In July 2020, SoftBank announced that it was considering selling or IPOing British chip designer Arm Holdings , which has been in a feud with the Chinese over control of its local subsidiary, but it did not have

4070-422: The old Commercial Code, a K.K. required starting capital of ¥10 million (about US$ 105,000); a lower capital requirement was later instituted, but corporations with under ¥3 million in assets were barred from issuing dividends , and companies were required to increase their capital to ¥10 million within five years of formation. The main steps in incorporation are the following: The incorporation of

4144-794: The principal investor in the fund, its Public Investment Fund (PIF) agreed to inject $ 45 billion into the Vision Fund over 5 years, becoming its largest investor. Other investors include Apple , Qualcomm , Arm , Foxconn , Sharp , Larry Ellison and Mubadala . The latter agreed to invest $ 15 billion dollars in the fund, targeting artificial intelligence, communications infrastructure, financial technology, consumer internet, mobile computing and robotics. Through Softbank Vision Fund, CEO Masayoshi Son explained his intent to invest in all companies developing technologies emphasizing global artificial intelligence , including sectors such as finance or transportation. In July 2019, SoftBank announced creating of

4218-465: The programme was unveiled, Softbank share price rose almost 19%. The program included a plan to repurchase ¥2tn of its shares in addition to the ¥500bn buyback it promised 10 days prior. Combined, SoftBank would be repurchasing 45% of its stock. On April 1, 2020, Sprint completed its merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US,, which was majority-owned by Deutsche Telekom, leaving T-Mobile the parent company. The merger also led to Softbank holding 24% of

4292-632: The ride-hailing firm expand in self-driving car technologies, with the bulk of the money to come from SoftBank's planned $ 100 billion Vision Fund. On 18 May 2017, it was reported that Softbank had completed its single largest investment in India to date, investing $ 1.4 billion in Paytm . At the time, Softbank was also working on a takeover of Snapdeal by Flipkart . On 10 August 2017, Softbank invested $ 2.5 billion in Flipkart. On 27 May 2017, Softbank and

4366-530: The sale of Boston Dynamics (robotics companies whose products include BigDog ) to SoftBank Group for an undisclosed sum. On 25 August 2017, SoftBank finalized a $ 4.4 billion investment in WeWork. On 24 October 2017, Son announced the group would collaborate with Saudi Arabia to develop Neom , the new high-tech business and industrial city of the Saudi Kingdom. On 14 November 2017, Softbank agreed to invest $ 10 billion into Uber . On 29 December 2017, it

4440-713: The second-largest IPO ever made. In December 2018, SoftBank invested in ParkJockey . The startup attempts to monetize parking lots. After the investment round, general valuation of the ParkJourney reached $ 1 billion. In December 2018, SoftBank announced its intention to invest $ 1 billion on ride-hailing startup Grab . Some sources said that the total amount of investment could reach $ 1.5 billion. On September 25, 2019, Softbank Robotics launched Whiz robotic vacuum cleaner in Singapore. In September 2019, WeWork's IPO

4514-732: The shareholders, and the Representative Director is a mandatory of the board. Any action outside of these mandates is considered a breach of mandatory duty. Every K.K. with multiple directors must have at least one statutory auditor ( 監査役 , kansayaku ) . Statutory auditors report to the shareholders, and are empowered to demand financial and operational reports from the directors. K.K.s with capital of over ¥500m, liabilities of over ¥2bn and/or publicly traded securities are required to have three statutory auditors, and must also have an annual audit performed by an outside CPA . Public K.K.s must also file securities law reports with

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4588-466: The sole external shareholder of the company. In June 2015, SoftBank announced it would invest US$ 1 billion in the Korean e-commerce website Coupang as part of its overseas expansion plans. In July 2015, SoftBank announced the renaming of the company from SoftBank Corp to SoftBank Group Corp. Meanwhile, SoftBank Mobile was renamed to SoftBank Corp, the now-former name of the company as a whole. On 16 February 2016, SoftBank announced they would repurchase

4662-483: The term refers specifically to joint-stock companies incorporated in Japan. In Latin script, kabushiki kaisha , with a ⟨k⟩ , is often used, but the original Japanese pronunciation is kabushiki gaisha , with a ⟨g⟩ , owing to rendaku . A kabushiki gaisha must include " 株式会社 " in its name (Article 6, paragraph 2 of the Companies Act). In a company name, " 株式会社 " can be used as

4736-551: The then United States President-elect Donald Trump , chief executive Masayoshi Son announced SoftBank would be investing US$ 50 billion in the United States toward businesses creating 50,000 new jobs. On 30 January 2017, the Wall Street Journal wrote that SoftBank Group was "weighing an investment of well over $ 1 billion in shared-office space company WeWork , in what could be among the first deals from its new $ 100 billion technology fund." On 20 March, SoftBank bought

4810-424: Was canceled. In December 2019, Softbank sold its interest in dog-walking startup Wag at a loss. Tadashi Yanai , Fast Retailing 's CEO and Japan's richest man at the time, left the board after 18 years. In January 2020, multiple Softbank-funded startups started cutting their staff, including Getaround , Oyo, Rappi , Katerra and Zume . In February 2020, Elliott Management , an activist hedge fund, bought

4884-449: Was completed by 22 June. In June 2016, Nikesh Arora stepped down amidst pressure from investors. Board member Ron Fisher and Baer Capital Partners founder Alok Sama undertook Arora's overseas investment duties. One month later, Son announced the company's largest deal ever to buy British chip designer Arm Holdings for more than US$ 32 billion. This acquisition was completed on 5 September 2016. On 6 December 2016, after meeting with

4958-405: Was difficult to place calls in dense areas such as Shinjuku , Tokyo during the network's early days, although these problems were eventually solved. On the other hand, high output (and sensitivity) can also earn wider coverage of area per base station, therefore the operator was able to expand its coverage faster than the competition. The market between PHS operators and cellular telephony companies

5032-545: Was founded as a planning-company in 1994, and started to offer telephony services in 1995 under the brand DDI-Pocket . Its PHS network covered almost all of Japan, and had the largest share of the Japanese PHS market. It continued operating after other PHS operators had withdrawn their services. The company later became a subsidiary of KDDI . Willcom Okinawa Co., Ltd. was a subsidiary for operations in Okinawa . In 2004,

5106-715: Was founded under the leadership of Masayoshi Son to focus on investment in Korean-based Internet companies. On 28 January 2005, SoftBank became the owner of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks , a Nippon Professional Baseball team. On 17 March 2006, SoftBank announced its agreement to buy Vodafone Japan , giving it a stake in Japan's $ 78 billion mobile markets. In April 2006, SoftBank purchased a 23% stake in Betfair , an Internet betting exchange. In August 2006, SoftBank sold all its shares of SBI Group to

5180-460: Was identified as the Nasdaq whale, where it bought stock options valued in the billions, betting on higher prices for the biggest technology companies. That month, SoftBank sold Brightstar Corporation to Brightstar Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount. American chip design company Nvidia announced plans on September 13, 2020, to acquire ARM from SoftBank, pending regulatory approval, for

5254-441: Was incredibly fierce, and until October 1996 it was not possible to make calls between PHS and cellular telephones. Even then, charges for calls between the two different systems were high. PHS became popular because of its lower cost, causing cellular telephone companies to reduce their rates, which were initially considered too expensive. Furthermore, the coverage of the cellular companies quickly expanded to comparable levels. With

5328-431: Was launching an emergency ¥4.5tn ($ 41bn) asset sale to fund a share buyback and debt reduction. The effort was initiated by Son in order to stem a collapse in the company’s share price due to the pandemic, "This programme will be the largest share buyback and will result in the largest increase in cash balance in the history of SBG [SoftBank Group], reflecting the firm and unwavering confidence we have in our business.". After

5402-599: Was reported that a SoftBank-led consortium had invested $ 9 billion into Uber. The deal, to close in January 2018, would leave SoftBank as Uber's biggest shareholder, with a 15 percent stake. The deal was secured after Uber shareholders voted to "sell their shares to the Japanese conglomerate at a discounted price." Beyond SoftBank, consortium members included Dragoneer , Tencent, TPG and Sequoia . On 14 January 2018, Softbank's Vision Fund announced to invest $ 560 million in

5476-632: Was the Dai-Ichi Bank , incorporated in 1873. Rules regarding kabushiki gaisha were set out in the Commercial Code of Japan , and was originally based on laws regulating German Aktiengesellschaft (which also means share company). However, during the United States-led Allied Occupation of Japan following World War II, the occupation authorities introduced revisions to the Commercial Code based on

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