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The demise of Softbank seems largely exaggerated [1]. While surely some investments are struggling, overall the company seems still to be in good shape. [1] ht

The demise of Softbank seems largely exaggerated [1]. While surely some investments are struggling, overall the company seems still to be in good shape. [1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corporate-business/softbank-groups-quarterly-profit-jumps-%C2%A51-12-trillion-highest-recorded-japanese-firm/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corpor...

JumpCrisscross 7y ago
> overall the company seems still to be in good shape One, that article [1] precedes the WeWork debacle. Two, it refers to SoftBank Corp., a conglomerate that also holds a large stake in Alibaba. Nobody doubts SoftBank Corp’s solvency. Its Vision Fund is the dubious foray, to which the Corp is insufficiently exposed to be tanked by. [1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corporate-business/softbank-groups-quarterly-profit-jumps-¥1-12-trillion-highest-recorded-japanese-firm/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corpor...
- onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
  I'm under the impression that Kyle Bass and a lot of other investors think Alibaba and Ten Cent could be cooking their books. Is this not true?
  - lonelappde 7y ago
    It's China so they must be cooking their books to keep their Chinese Communist Party partners happy.
  - ptenk 7y ago
    It’s possible, but it’s important to note Kyle Bass has been short China for a very long time and has been spreading FUD (true or not) since 2008.
deleted 7y ago
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rgbrenner 7y ago
You're way overstating that. The important part of that article is in the first paragraph: boosted by a special profit from selling part of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. After they sold 11.1B of Alibaba shares[0] (virtually all booked as profit because of when they bought them), they ended the quarter with $10.6B in profits. So excluding that, they actually had a loss of 500m in one quarter. Softbank owned over $100B in alibaba shares... all derived from a single purchase of $20m of alibaba shares in 1999. Softbank's market cap is currently $77B. They're worth less than their Alibaba stake. 0. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/softbank-nets-11-billion-selling-part-of-its-stake-in-alibaba https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/softbank-...

JumpCrisscross 7y ago

> overall the company seems still to be in good shape One, that article [1] precedes the WeWork debacle. Two, it refers to SoftBank Corp., a conglomerate that also holds a large stake in Alibaba. Nobody doubts SoftBank Corp’s solvency. Its Vision Fund is the dubious foray, to which the Corp is insufficiently exposed to be tanked by. [1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corporate-business/softbank-groups-quarterly-profit-jumps-¥1-12-trillion-highest-recorded-japanese-firm/ https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/08/07/business/corpor...

onlyrealcuzzo 7y ago
I'm under the impression that Kyle Bass and a lot of other investors think Alibaba and Ten Cent could be cooking their books. Is this not true?
- lonelappde 7y ago
  It's China so they must be cooking their books to keep their Chinese Communist Party partners happy.
- ptenk 7y ago
  It’s possible, but it’s important to note Kyle Bass has been short China for a very long time and has been spreading FUD (true or not) since 2008.

deleted 7y ago

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rgbrenner 7y ago

You're way overstating that. The important part of that article is in the first paragraph: boosted by a special profit from selling part of its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. After they sold 11.1B of Alibaba shares[0] (virtually all booked as profit because of when they bought them), they ended the quarter with $10.6B in profits. So excluding that, they actually had a loss of 500m in one quarter. Softbank owned over $100B in alibaba shares... all derived from a single purchase of $20m of alibaba shares in 1999. Softbank's market cap is currently $77B. They're worth less than their Alibaba stake. 0. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/softbank-nets-11-billion-selling-part-of-its-stake-in-alibaba https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-04/softbank-...