SoftBank Tones Down Presentations

SoftBank is changing how it presents information. Gone are the “flamboyant” charts. At the latest earnings results presentation, CEO Masayoshi Son started by describing what will be different this time and going forward: he will no longer deliver results but will pass that responsibility to the chief financial officer.

First, he addressed directly concerns about his health. He says, “You may ask why . . . “ [translated to English] and proceeded to tell us in about 30 minutes. After background about his interest in the “information revolution,” he explained,

Goto [CFO] is more suitable than me for playing defense. Me, I’m an aggressive person, not a defensive person, and I’d like to concentrate on Arm [chip manufacturer] for the time being.

Son said he’ll still be active: “I’ll continue to do the shareholder meetings, and when something unpredictable happens, I’ll come back anytime.”

Son has shown infamous charts with golden geese, unicorns, and rainbows. I wrote about his “hypothetical” line charts—like the WeWork line chart above, with an arrow but no data—in Chapter 9 of Business Communication and Character.

The current earnings deck is notably different, and this slide shows why. Losses are mounting, Son’s more “subdued role” matches SoftBank’s less aggressive investing style. The company has taken a dose of humility.