TOKYO — SoftBank Group of Japan on Wednesday said it took a nearly $4.6 billion financial hit from its investment in WeWork, while its chief executive expressed both regret and defiance over his decision to bet heavily on the troubled American office space company. Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s leader and the architect of a $100 billion investment push that has shaken up the start-up world, admitted during a news conference that he had misjudged WeWork’s leader and founder, Adam Neumann . “I overestimated Adam’s good side,” he said, adding that as for “his negative side, in many cases, I turned a blind eye, especially when it comes to governance.”But Mr. Son shook off criticism of the decisions leading to the investment. He spent more than 40 minutes defending his investment in the company and insisting that SoftBank’s bailout of the company was “not a rescue.” Rather, he said, it was an opportunity to buy up extra shares in the company at a discount, reducing the average cost of SoftBank’s stake by a quarter.

Source: New York Times November 06, 2019 07:13 UTC