Former Google executive Nikesh Arora, who joined Japanese Internet, telecom and investment giant SoftBank in September, will buy $483 million (¥60 billion) worth of company stock, according to a filing made with the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
Arora, who led the negotiations to buy DreamWorks Animation, which didn’t lead to a deal, and the $250 million investment in Legendary Pictures, was appointed president of SoftBank in July.
He was also tapped by chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son to one day succeed him as leader of the sprawling group, which holds investments in upwards of 1,300 companies, including mobile carrier Sprint in the U.S. and Yahoo Japan.
“My past year with the SoftBank Group has been very rewarding,” said Arora in a statement. “As a measure of commitment, I have decided to take a personal bet on the SoftBank Group and ensure an alignment of vision with our founder, chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son.”
He added: “This is a large transaction for me and involves taking an enormous risk.”
Arora is set to buy the stock on the open market over the next six months, a process that will make him the biggest shareholder in SoftBank behind Son.
Twitter: @GavinJBlair
