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This almost seems like the plot of the James Bond story Casino Royale. Basically, SoftBank has taken the money of some very unsavory characters (people who are

This almost seems like the plot of the James Bond story Casino Royale. Basically, SoftBank has taken the money of some very unsavory characters (people who are literally willing to cut your body into little pieces) promising big gains and has lost a significant chunk of it. Now, like Le Chiffre, they are desperately trying to gamble big, hoping that they can make up the lost money by high risk strategies.

jacquesm 7y ago
Wow, that's pretty heavy assuming it is true. Might affect founders too if true if they attempt a 'recovery strategy'.
dhsuywej 7y ago
This doesn't seem to line up with the reality presented in the article at all. I caught the Jamal Khashoggi reference but don't see where the evidence is that suggests this is somehow motivating SoftBank. >SoftBank is back to its old, bold ways after a brief lull. But to keep up the pace, it will need major new commitments from the world's largest investors. Indicates that, from the author's perspective, this is largely a return by SoftBank to their old ways. >Meanwhile, SoftBank has reportedly only closed $2 billion of its second Vision Fund. The two sovereign wealth funds that contributed nearly half of the original Vision Fund—Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company—have yet to commit to the new fund. Means that there is a lot of potential money on the table if returns can be made. None of this implies an underlying fear that someone at SoftBank is going to have their head removed by the Saudis due to bad investing.
bksenior 7y ago
Not really. It's a thesis that if you own the top dogs in the most important consumer growth verticals that you will get both economies of scale and own sector growth. He might end up being very wrong, but it's not really more than that. Good movie though.
elfexec 7y ago
> Basically, SoftBank has taken the money of some very unsavory characters (people who are literally willing to cut your body into little pieces) promising big gain So has pretty much every major company and every major industry around the world. The saudis are some of the largest investors in pretty much everything - including the tech world. > and has lost a significant chunk of it. They haven't lost anything yet. They have made investments. Whether it pans out will take time. Even WeWork is still an investment. And last I heard, their first vision fund actually grew in value rather than declined. > hoping that they can make up the lost money by high risk strategies. It is the world's largest venture capital fund. The entire fund exists to invest in high risk companies. What are you talking about? The fact that you think "This almost seems like the plot of the James Bond story Casino Royale." should tell you your assumptions and conclusions might require re-evaluating. If what you said was true, softbank wouldn't have been able to create a second vision fund. https://group.softbank/en/corp/news/press/sb/2019/20190726_01/ https://group.softbank/en/corp/news/press/sb/2019/20190726_0... Instead of parroting news ( which hypes clickbait nonsense about things they don't understand ) and then mixing that with hollywood fantasy, why not look at the data, facts and what is really happening.
- thendrill 7y ago
  Ok let's look at the data. We Work is not making more money than initially invested. Same can be said for, Uber, Netflix, Twitter, snapchat, etc. Etc. Etc. So yes... All this money is "unsavory". The whole IT industry is actually filled with "hot air" unsavory money. So what exact data should be looking at? If I look at it from a Hollywood perspective, the Corp. Scillicon valley it industry is a giant pyramid scheme club for rich people.
- greglindahl 7y ago
  > They haven't lost anything yet. They led a WeWork down round and have realized a loss on their previous WeWork investment. They also realized a loss with Uber, a public company.
haecceity 7y ago
Well they should've known the risks involved in private equity. I'm not sure movie villains care about silly things like risk.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Did SoftBank take Saudi money before or after the Saudis had a journalist murdered and cut to pieces in one of their embassies? If before, can’t predict the future. If after, you reap what you sow.
  - agustif 7y ago
    Both, I think
  - Barrin92 7y ago
    do you think Saudi Arabia brutally butchering political dissidents is an invention of the last few years? Reminder that we're talking about an aboslutist theocracy that employs slave labour and executes people for heresy in the streets with Scimitars helping that regime in multiplying their resources has been unethical since the dawn of time
    - toomuchtodo 7y ago
      You’re not wrong. It’s the continual doubling down that is disappointing. It’s only a human rights violation when it’s not a trading partner apparently.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

jacquesm 7y ago

Wow, that's pretty heavy assuming it is true. Might affect founders too if true if they attempt a 'recovery strategy'.

dhsuywej 7y ago

This doesn't seem to line up with the reality presented in the article at all. I caught the Jamal Khashoggi reference but don't see where the evidence is that suggests this is somehow motivating SoftBank. >SoftBank is back to its old, bold ways after a brief lull. But to keep up the pace, it will need major new commitments from the world's largest investors. Indicates that, from the author's perspective, this is largely a return by SoftBank to their old ways. >Meanwhile, SoftBank has reportedly only closed $2 billion of its second Vision Fund. The two sovereign wealth funds that contributed nearly half of the original Vision Fund—Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company—have yet to commit to the new fund. Means that there is a lot of potential money on the table if returns can be made. None of this implies an underlying fear that someone at SoftBank is going to have their head removed by the Saudis due to bad investing.

bksenior 7y ago

Not really. It's a thesis that if you own the top dogs in the most important consumer growth verticals that you will get both economies of scale and own sector growth. He might end up being very wrong, but it's not really more than that. Good movie though.

elfexec 7y ago

> Basically, SoftBank has taken the money of some very unsavory characters (people who are literally willing to cut your body into little pieces) promising big gain So has pretty much every major company and every major industry around the world. The saudis are some of the largest investors in pretty much everything - including the tech world. > and has lost a significant chunk of it. They haven't lost anything yet. They have made investments. Whether it pans out will take time. Even WeWork is still an investment. And last I heard, their first vision fund actually grew in value rather than declined. > hoping that they can make up the lost money by high risk strategies. It is the world's largest venture capital fund. The entire fund exists to invest in high risk companies. What are you talking about? The fact that you think "This almost seems like the plot of the James Bond story Casino Royale." should tell you your assumptions and conclusions might require re-evaluating. If what you said was true, softbank wouldn't have been able to create a second vision fund. https://group.softbank/en/corp/news/press/sb/2019/20190726_01/ https://group.softbank/en/corp/news/press/sb/2019/20190726_0... Instead of parroting news ( which hypes clickbait nonsense about things they don't understand ) and then mixing that with hollywood fantasy, why not look at the data, facts and what is really happening.

thendrill 7y ago
Ok let's look at the data. We Work is not making more money than initially invested. Same can be said for, Uber, Netflix, Twitter, snapchat, etc. Etc. Etc. So yes... All this money is "unsavory". The whole IT industry is actually filled with "hot air" unsavory money. So what exact data should be looking at? If I look at it from a Hollywood perspective, the Corp. Scillicon valley it industry is a giant pyramid scheme club for rich people.
greglindahl 7y ago
> They haven't lost anything yet. They led a WeWork down round and have realized a loss on their previous WeWork investment. They also realized a loss with Uber, a public company.

haecceity 7y ago

Well they should've known the risks involved in private equity. I'm not sure movie villains care about silly things like risk.

toomuchtodo 7y ago
Did SoftBank take Saudi money before or after the Saudis had a journalist murdered and cut to pieces in one of their embassies? If before, can’t predict the future. If after, you reap what you sow.
- agustif 7y ago
  Both, I think
- Barrin92 7y ago
  do you think Saudi Arabia brutally butchering political dissidents is an invention of the last few years? Reminder that we're talking about an aboslutist theocracy that employs slave labour and executes people for heresy in the streets with Scimitars helping that regime in multiplying their resources has been unethical since the dawn of time
  - toomuchtodo 7y ago
    You’re not wrong. It’s the continual doubling down that is disappointing. It’s only a human rights violation when it’s not a trading partner apparently.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]