The surprise departure of Nikesh Arora, heir apparent at SoftBank Group Corp., highlights a problem many Japanese companies face: passing the reins to a successor.
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, 58, said Tuesday he wants to remain at the helm of the company he built from a computer software distributor into one of Japan's largest telecommunications and investment groups, while Arora aspired to be chief executive officer more quickly.
Son's decision to cling to control until he loses confidence in his physical strength is the latest example of a leadership transfer at a Japanese company that has gone wrong. Many of these firms are managed and owned by aging entrepreneurs, such as the 67-year-old billionaire Tadashi Yanai's Fast Retailing Co., and often the transition is far from smooth.