SoftBank Group has formalized the departure of Marcelo Claure, director of operations, known as one of the closest lieutenants of Masayoshi Son, the leader of the largest Tech investment fund, on January 28. Part of his duties are entrusted to Michel Combes, the company’s new number 2.
Marcelo Claure, the indispensable lieutenant of Masayoshi Son…
A SoftBank employee since 2013, Marcelo Claure paid a strong tribute to his boss on the occasion of his departure, ” I am especially grateful to Masayoshi Son, who gave me the opportunity to grow at SoftBank and served as my mentor and friend during my tenure. “, did he declare.
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The man is known to have successfully completed several complex missions. He took over the leadership of WeWork when its founder, Adam Neumann, was ousted by Son. He also turned around Sprint, an American operator, majority owned by SoftBank, which merged with T-Mobile.
He has held several positions within the group, Chief Operating Officer, Managing Director at SoftBank Group International which manages investments outside of Vision Fund. He successfully launched a venture capital fund in Latin America where he is from. Marcelo Claure also launched SB Opportunity Fund, aimed at investing in businesses founded and owned by underrepresented minorities after the Georges Floyd case in the United States.
… Ended up annoying SoftBank
These various successes, particularly in Latin America and at WeWork, would have encouraged him to become a little too greedy. The echoes, relaying the New York Times and Bloomberg, reports that he would have claimed in 2021 between one billion and two billion dollars in compensation. An attitude that Masayoshi Son has little tasted. His departure has been under discussion for several months.
He would also have had disagreements with certain senior executives over the strategy of the Vision Funds. Usual tensions within SoftBank, with each of the senior officials seeking the approval of the big boss.
Marcelo Claure joins the list of Masayoshi Son’s lieutenants having left without warning, Nikesh Arora who came to succeed Son a little too early in 2016 or Alok Sama who resigned in 2019.
French succession
Michel Combes was dubbed by Masayoshi Son to take over. In the company’s press release, he assures: I have great confidence in Michel Combes and the talented team at SoftBank to continue the great work we have underway at SBGI. [SoftBank Group International] “.
The French engineer, polytechnician, was president of SoftBank Group International since April 2020, he becomes the CEO. He is known for his career in telecoms, his specialty. After starting at France Telecom and visiting a few ministerial offices, he was at the head of Vodafone Europe, Alcatel-Lucent, Altice, then Sprint.
Michel Combes arrives at this level of responsibility during a complicated period for SoftBank. Several of Vision Fund’s investments went wrong after making the Japanese company successful. WeWork, Alibaba, Uber, Coupang, drove down SoftBank’s capitalization. It is nevertheless essential in the financing of new technological companies.