Over the past six months investments made by the company have been wiped out and Softbank is now set to sell part of its Alibaba Group stake making it $34bn in the process.
The move is seen as an attempt by the company to bolster its finances, as its $100bn Vision Funds has taken a big hit in recent months on the back of a wider global slump in tech stocks.
Son admitted that he had got ‘carried away’ with the tech boom last year; should have been more selective of the stocks he invested in and was said to be ‘embarrassed’ at the consequent loss.
More interesting than feelings of embarrassment is the fact that Son has cooled significantly when it comes to investing in China tech.
Son was one of the sector's biggest cheerleaders and he was praised for his foresight and investing acumen when it came to the tech sector in China.
From what Son is now saying, however, the outlook for Chinese technology appears to be pretty poor, and that has been weakened further by deepening political and economic tensions between the US and China.
Son's pullback contrasts with earlier optimism towards China tech and comes as Softbank looks to consolidate its financial position with a series of significant share buybacks.
