misra: Rajeev Misra to cede frontline role, launch external fund 

SoftBank's Rajeev Misra will cede his frontline role in managing the Japanese conglomerate's second Vision Fund and launch his own external fund, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters.

The executive will move from CEO of SoftBank Global Advisers, which manages the second fund, to vice chairman, while SoftBank's founder and CEO Masayoshi Son will take a more direct leadership role, the memo said.

Misra plans to set up an external multi-asset fund that will invest more broadly than Vision Fund, which focuses on late-stage startups, according to the memo signed by Son.

He will retain his role overseeing the first USD100 billion Vision Fund, and remain a senior adviser.

The step back by Misra, who was integral in the transformation of SoftBank into one of the world's biggest tech investors, deepens the sense of strategic drift at the Japanese conglomerate.

In May the Vision Fund unit reported its biggest ever loss as the value of its portfolio slid, and a string of executives including group Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure have quit the company.

The exodus leaves SoftBank with fewer checks on Son, who has pledged greater investing caution as his portfolio is buffeted as investors turn sceptical about the high-growth startups SoftBank prefers.

Klarna, a Swedish startup in which Vision Fund 2 invested last year at a USD46 billion valuation, is nearing a deal to raise capital at a roughly USD6 billion valuation, a source said last week.

Misra's move was first reported by Bloomberg.

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