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SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

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21–30 of 149 posts

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#21
...on around $100B of capital raised.

i.e., -39%. Poof!

So far.

--

For those here who don't know, Masayoshi Son almost lost everything in the dotcom bust of 2000-2002.

A single investment saved him from ruin back then: Alibaba. Was that luck or skill? In hindsight, it looks a lot like luck to me.

Either way, he's clearly a bet-the-farm-and-actually-can-lose-the-farm kind of guy.

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#23
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's basically an inefficient, but effective way to siphon money from the poor and middle class and deposit it into the bank accounts of the wealthy by utilizing the equity the poor and middle class have in their vehicles.

> to siphon money from the poor and middle class and deposit it into the bank accounts of the wealthy by utilizing the equity the poor and middle class have in their vehicles What poor and middle class assets does SoftBank manage? (EDIT: Nvm. I misread “vehicle” as an investment vehicle.)

You completely missed the point made here, which was a very good one.

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#24
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's basically an inefficient, but effective way to siphon money from the poor and middle class and deposit it into the bank accounts of the wealthy by utilizing the equity the poor and middle class have in their vehicles.

> to siphon money from the poor and middle class and deposit it into the bank accounts of the wealthy by utilizing the equity the poor and middle class have in their vehicles What poor and middle class assets does SoftBank manage? (EDIT: Nvm. I misread “vehicle” as an investment vehicle.)

He meant Uber. Uber is siphoning residual equity in people's vehicles into cash for Uber by underpaying for depreciation.

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#26
post #14

> Yoshimitsu Goto, the tech conglomerate’s chief financial officer, said on Thursday that the company would not miss opportunities to invest in new technology such as ChatGPT, but cautioned that it was not ready to accelerate its deal activity. Apparently Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman didn't read the classic essay: "Goto considered harmful" before making massive investments in SoftBank.

My favourite conspiracy theory lately is that the Saudis needed to increase the oil price to recover losses from their VC investments.

I am not sophisticated investor or commodities trader -- but I do not think Oil prices work that way. The problem for Saudis always has been whatever cuts to production they make were fulfilled by others who exceed the quota. There are many oil rich but cash desperate parties out there. It's much easy for Saudis to create a panic than delicately reach a target price.

May be I am wrong, but experienced commodity traders can respond and correct me.

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alongside Bill Hwang, who famously lost $20 billion by excessive leverage. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-04-08/how-bill-...

Hwang is the greatest. Most rich people just get comfortable/scared and go to index funds while there was absolutely no reason to stop given the amount of liquidity in the public markets. Ironically he ran out of liquidity, but it was a great example of what's possible.

[dead]

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#29
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to siphon money from the poor and middle class and deposit it into the bank accounts of the wealthy by utilizing the equity the poor and middle class have in their vehicles What poor and middle class assets does SoftBank manage? (EDIT: Nvm. I misread “vehicle” as an investment vehicle.)

He meant Uber. Uber is siphoning residual equity in people's vehicles into cash for Uber by underpaying for depreciation.

Well said. Would like to see an economic / accountant analysis of this.

Re: SoftBank Vision funds post record $39B annual loss

#30

Their massive early investment in Uber distorted their reality and they expected ride sharing to be incredibly successful in other markets when it's not even successful in the USA - it's a fraud that pays below minimum wage off the backs of people who cannot do math. It has never made money anywhere ... ARM has had a laziness problem ever since the Apple A1 chip - there's a reason why nobody uses their 6-yr old layou…

I do wonder if ARMs business model works long term. Imagination Technologies crashed the exact same way.

They'll have Apple's (likely immense) license fees for at least a decade - Apple won't make another architecture change anytime soon. And the rest of ARM's business... it's not like there are any alternatives. China hasn't managed to create a competitor, and even if they do it may very well be sanctioned and so useless to the US and EU. Intel/AMD's x86 is a dead end for the high-efficiency, low power market that ARM targets. PowerPC, MIPS and SuperH have been dead for years. There's always the possibility that RISC or some other open ecosystem rises, yes, but ARM is decades ahead and it would take absurd amounts of investments that I don't see appearing any time soon given the interest rate hike.
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