The departure of Ma, who retired as Alibaba’s executive chairman in September, comes as he pulls back from formal business roles to focus on philanthropy. SoftBank will propose three new appointments to the board, including group Chief Financial Officer Yoshimoto Goto, at its annual general meeting on June 25. That meets a demand from activist investor Elliott Management, which has pressed SoftBank to improve board diversity, and also wants a new subcommittee to oversee the investment process at the $100 billion Vision Fund. The board is largely comprised of SoftBank insiders and confidants. SoftBank has bought back more than 250 billion yen of its shares at the end of April.

Source: bd News24 May 18, 2020 03:33 UTC