Michael Ronen is set to leave SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages internet and telecommunications group SoftBank’s Vision Fund, having been negotiating terms for several weeks, he told the Financial Times yesterday.
Ronen joined SoftBank in 2017 after three years at investment bank Goldman Sachs’ technology, media and telecommunications group and is one of the managing partners overseeing US investments for Vision Fund, which reached a $98.6bn close in late 2018.
SoftBank has been working on raising capital for its second Vision Fund but despite obtaining memoranda of understanding for $108bn in investment, it is yet to raise any external funding for the vehicle, people close to the discussions told the FT.
Vision Fund announced in November 2019 it had secured $2bn in capital for its second vehicle and recently provided $250m for online pharmacy Alto, but a person with knowledge of the fundraising said SoftBank itself has put $5bn in to fund its initial deals.
Ronen’s deals during his time at Vision Fund included a commitment of up to $2.25bn for autonomous driving software developer Cruise Automation, its leading of a $1bn round for shipping management platform Flexport and an investment in parking system developer ParkJockey at a valuation of more than $1bn.
SoftBank is also considering the future of Ron Fisher, the vice-chairman of the company who is also chairman of SoftBank Investment Advisers, three sources told the FT.
Fisher was reportedly an advocate of SoftBank and Vision Fund’s large-scale commitment to co-working space provider WeWork and represented SoftBank on the company’s board of directors.
SoftBank responded to the FT report with a statement declaring that Fisher was “a valued member of the SoftBank family” and was “not going anywhere”.
Photo of Michael Ronen courtesy of SoftBank Investment Advisers.
