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Ming Jeong Lee
For Ming Jeong Lee's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2022
SoftBank-backed cancer detection startup may go public as soon as 2023
AI Medical Service Inc. develops software to scan endoscopy images and identify potential cancers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2022
SoftBank’s Son faces shareholders shaken by ¥4.6 trillion loss
With SoftBank's own financial health on the line, shareholder confidence is near a breaking point, some analysts have said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 22, 2022
SoftBank Group International CEO to leave after five months on job
The exit of Michel Combes, who will close a five-year career at SoftBank, adds to a string of key departures in recent months.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 8, 2022
Toshiba CEO says staying public is still an option as equity firms circle
The comments serve as a reminder that the next step is far from certain for the firm, where shareholders and management have been at loggerheads for years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Apr 14, 2022
Toshiba’s talk of privatization leaves some analysts with doubts
Toshiba is in talks with financial institutions on a buyout plan that would be led by domestic investors.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2022
Maker of ¥77.7 million flying motorbike prepares for Japan IPO
The single-person flying transporter can hit a max speed of 80 kilometers per hour and travel up to 40 minutes per charge.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 22, 2022
Hedge fund activists battle old Japan in Toshiba’s crucial vote
Shareholders will vote on two proposals: one, from Toshiba, asks them to support a two-way split; a competing one, put forward by 3D, calls for the company to reconsider alternatives.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 16, 2022
SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son loses $25 billion in tech’s brutal winter
From China's tech crackdown to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a litany of troubles has beset Son and his conglomerate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 10, 2022
SoftBank unit plans NFT mall to grow global presence
Z Holdings, which makes the bulk of its revenue through mobile ads and spending, plans to expand by tapping a five-year budget of roughly u00a5500 billion for growth initiatives.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2022
Japan money managers shun local market when placing ESG bets
The country's four largest ESG funds have put at least 95% of their net assets in foreign stocks as of this month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2021
Fintech startup Finatext has worst Tokyo debut in two decades
The firm is expecting a net loss of u00a51 billion this fiscal year, but co-founder Ryota Hayashi says he's in no rush to generate profit, though added it could do so quickly if required.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2021
Artisan’s $9 billion manager eyes backing Toshiba plan to split
Artisan Partners, one of the biggest U.S. investors in Toshiba Corp., generally supports the conglomerate's plan to separate into three companies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 17, 2021
Cheap valuations and low inflation to benefit Japan stocks in 2022
COVID-19 infections and deaths at near-record lows and the highest inoculation rate among the G7 countries have also boosted expectations for economic reopening.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2021
Tokyo Stock Exchange to extend trading day, adjusting close for first time since 1954
The switch is planned at the same time as a large upgrade of the exchange's trading systems, in the second half of the fiscal year ending March 2025.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2021
What Japan’s middle-of-the-road new leader means for investors
For good or ill, Kishida is seen by investors as a continuity choice — stable, but unlikely to energize markets much.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 21, 2021
Japanese stocks slide as rate concerns damp cyclical appeal
The figures came as hawkish comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve crushed the reflation trade that had driven the market earlier this year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 18, 2021
Automating boring tasks made these Japan startup founders rich
Their firms' shares have all more than doubled in the past year, leading to talk of a burgeoning tech scene that's very different from Silicon Valley.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2021
Japan's most famous activist investor steps up takeover battle with Carlyle
Analysts say Yoshiaki Murakami may have a controversial past, but his campaigns generate returns for other stock owners.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jan 27, 2021
Japan stock rally defies foreign sales thanks to BOJ, banks
The key 225-issue Nikkei average advanced 16% in 2020 despite more than u00a56 trillion of foreign net selling in the cash and futures market, according to Japan Exchange Group data.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 25, 2020
Interest in trading options on Nikkei average hits decade low after 2020 rally
The market’s interest in trading options on the 225-issue Nikkei average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange has dropped to its lowest in more than a decade amid waning demand for protection against volatility.

Longform

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