Jeffrey Housenbold has joined Japan-based internet and telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank as a senior investing member of its $93bn Vision Fund.
Housenbold had been president and CEO of Nasdaq-listed image publishing platform Shutterfly for 11 years until early 2016 when, among a portfolio of roles, he became an entrepreneur-in-residence at venture capital firm Sutter Hill Ventures.
On LinkedIn, Housenbold said: “After an amazing 15 months recharging my batteries and embarking on a professional walkabout, where I had the opportunity to meet with over 60 different companies and founders, I realized I wanted to have a bigger impact across multiple businesses rather than just leading one of them.
“I feel so fortunate to have been introduced to Softbank’s new $100bn[-targeted] Vision Fund as it’s the perfect global platform to leverage my 25 years of experience in leading, operating and investing in hyper-growth entrepreneurial companies.”
The news emerged around the same time as Colin Fan, who had been co-head of investment banking responsible for securities trading at Deutsche Bank before a reshuffle in late 2015, revealed he is also taking a position at SoftBank Vision.