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April 24, 2024
 

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Giles Turner
For Giles Turner's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Manchester United fans have frequently protested against the club's current owners, the Glazer family.
SOCCER
Oct 15, 2023
Qatari investors withdraw bid for Manchester United
The Qatari group had offered more than £5 billion ($6.1 billion) for the team, compared to its current market value of $3.3 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 30, 2022
SoftBank plans Vision Fund staff cuts of at least 30%, sources say
Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder of SoftBank Group, had said in August he would implement cost cuts after a record $23 billion loss.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 5, 2022
SoftBank talent drain worsens, adding pressure on Masayoshi Son to deliver
Two more managing partners at the company's Vision Fund are leaving, bringing the number of top level departures from the world's largest investment fund to at least 10 since March of 2020.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 15, 2022
SoftBank plans additional London listing for Arm IPO
The company is adjusting plans for an initial public offering of its chip technology division and will likely still list the majority of what it offers for trading on U.S. exchanges.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 26, 2022
SoftBank cuts back spending, leaving startups desperate for cash
The adoption of prudence at SoftBank's Vision Fund is an about-face from its past freewheeling largess.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2022
Top SoftBank executive set to leave after seeking $1 billion in compensation
Marcelo Claure, who was SoftBank's second-highest paid executive in the latest financial year, has often pushed for much more money and authority, putting him at odds with Masayoshi Son.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2022
Nvidia quietly prepares to abandon $40 billion bid for SoftBank's Arm
The purchase — poised to become the biggest chip deal ever when it was announced in 2020 — has drawn a fierce backlash from regulators and the chip industry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 21, 2021
What happens when Instagram success meets a market meltdown
THG became a billion-dollar company through makeup and supplements that were wildly popular on social media. The good times didn't last.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 20, 2021
SoftBank weighs stake in Ampere, valuing chipmaker at $8 billion
Ampere is a 4-year-old startup run by a former Intel Corp. executive who is trying to break into the market for microprocessors that run servers in data centers, an area dominated by her old company.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 4, 2021
SoftBank built a $5 billion stake in pharma giant Roche
Roche's diagnostics unit reacted swiftly to the pandemic, and now sales are boosted by its COVID-19 testing business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2021
U.K. considers blocking chipmaker Nvidia's takeover of Arm over security risks
Nvidia, the biggest U.S. chip company by market capitalization, announced in September a $40 billion deal to acquire Arm from Japan's SoftBank Group.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2021
How Masayoshi Son’s ‘money guy’ Lex Greensill went from hero to zero
Greensill Capital was a key part of what Son dubbed his 'Cluster of No. 1's” strategy, taking noncontrolling stakes in the world's leading tech companies and encouraging them to cooperate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2020
Japan's SoftBank positioning for ‘slow-burn’ buyout, sources say
Under Japanese regulations, founder Masayoshi Son could compel other shareholders to sell when he gets to 66% ownership, perhaps without paying a premium.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 3, 2020
SoftBank winding down options trading after investor backlash
SoftBank shareholders balked after SoftBank's foray into derivatives trading was first disclosed in September, cutting the company's market value by as much as $17 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 15, 2020
SoftBank to combine frenzy of SPACs with CEO’s eccentric vision
For Masayoshi Son, creating such a vehicle may give him a new way to invest in nascent companies while tapping the surging public markets for money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 8, 2020
SoftBank’s big options bet tests investors' faith in Masayoshi Son
The firm's position has injected a jolt of uncertainty into the market, with questions about exposure and plans for future trading.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2020
SoftBank reportedly considering bid for TikTok in India
TikTok is considering selling its operations in several countries after governments shut out the app, citing fears that user data was passing into the hands of China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 14, 2020
SoftBank exploring sale or IPO of chip company Arm, sources say
If it pursues a listing, the chip-design company could go public as soon as next year, accelerating a timeline laid out by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son in 2018.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2020
Masayoshi Son's SoftBank strained by losses and infighting at the top
In early March, before the coronavirus pandemic triggered a global economic lockdown, SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son paid tribute to Rajeev Misra, the man who runs his $100 billion technology investment fund. Wearing a $70 (¥7,500) Uniqlo down jacket, the Japanese billionaire put his arm around Misra’s shoulders at a town hall meeting in San Carlos, California. He said he would never forget the help Misra provided when he was at Deutsche Bank AG more than a decade earlier and spoke of the trust and respect they had developed since, according to a summary shared internally. "We are family,” Son said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2020
SoftBank’s Vision Fund plans to cut 10% of staff as startups sour
As the value of its startups declines, the best of the giant fund's 500-strong staff might start looking for other jobs.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Japan’s cannabis market growing rapidly amid regulatory shift
The legality of products that contain cannabinoids, a group of substances derived from the cannabis plant, has been somewhat murky in Japan.
An AI star seeks to bring self-driving cars to Japan by 2030
Japanese startup Turing plans to unveil a self-driving car with at least 30 minutes’ driving range next year and develop a fully autonomous car by 2030.
Tokyo issues strong warning on yen intervention as currency dips further
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki speaks during a meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on the sidelines of IMF and G20 meetings in Washington last week.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
New workers name Shohei Ohtani as 'dream boss' for two years running
Shohei Ohtani has been overwhelmingly voted as the “dream boss” for people who started working in April, according to a survey.
A craft beer crawl through Tokyo’s top bars, brewpubs and dives
If all you drink is Asahi, Sapporo and Kirin, you're depriving yourself of some of the best craft beer Tokyo has to offer — and there sure is a lot of it out there.
'Sugar Baby Riri' gets nine-year prison term over romance scam
Mai Watanabe, who went by the moniker “Sugar Baby Riri,” dated older men and swindled them out of money by telling them fictitious heartbreaking stories about herself to gain their sympathy.
Tsukiji 2030s: A stadium, culinary center and transportation hub
A computer-generated image shows redevelopment plans for the former site of the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo.
Hearing the impact of climate change in Okinawa, one bird call at a time
Toshihiro Kinjo (center), a research support technician at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, inspects an audio recording device in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 3 as Masako Ogasawara, a research support specialist at OIST, looks on.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa
A young restaurant leads the way in Karuizawa

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