SoftBank Group Corp. CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son said Wednesday he will continue to lead the telecom giant for five to 10 more years, saying there are things he still wants to do.

The remarks come a day after SoftBank abruptly announced the company's group president, Nikesh Arora, whom Son had chosen as his successor two years earlier, would be stepping down from the post after Wednesday's annual shareholders meeting.

"I was planning to invite SoftBank executives and my friends to my 60th birthday party and just when we would make a toast, I wanted to announce that I would pass the torch on to Nikesh from the next day," Son, 58, said during the meeting in Tokyo.

Arora wanted to take the helm in a few years but, "I've made a commitment to lead the company at least five more years or maybe 10 more years," said Son, adding he feels "deeply sorry" about changing his plans and causing trouble for Arora.

For his part, Arora told shareholders, "This is a decision I respect and even support because he is too young in his heart and his mind to not continue to lead this great company."

Still, Arora's resignation came as a surprise. Early on Tuesday, before it was announced he was stepping down as SoftBanks's group president, Arora was reappointed as the chairman of Yahoo Japan at the company's shareholders meeting. Yahoo Japan is a unit of the SoftBank group and Son gave his chairman post to Arora last year.

That evening, it was then announced he was resigning as group president of SoftBank. Yahoo Japan then said the following day that Arora will step down from that post as well. The resignations and order of events have left many people perplexed.

Recently, Arora had been facing questions from "purported" investors who challenged some of his investmentdecisions and claimed there was a conflict of interest due to his adviser position at a private equity firm.

On Monday, SoftBank said an investigation by a special committee of independent board members concluded the allegations were "without merit."

Son has repeatedly praised Arora's leadership skills.

Only last November, Son said his intention to hand over stewardship of the company to Arora was growing "stronger."

"Ever since I founded this company, I thought finding a successor was one of my biggest challenges," Son had said. "I feel tremendously relieved because a path to pass the torch is clear now," he had added.

Some SoftBank shareholders expressed their surprise at the turn of events.

"I thought there was some kind of fight (between Son and Arora)," said Takeshi Fukunaga, a SoftBank shareholder, after the meeting. But after hearing their speeches Wednesday, it didn't seem that way, he said.

Fukunaga, who has been a SoftBank shareholder for about 15 years, said he welcomed Son's decision to continue to lead the company.

On his decision to remain at the helm, Son cited a reason as the coming paradigm shift, where artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence and robots equipped with AI proliferate while everything is connected to the internet.

Son said he wants to be on the front line when the changeover occurs.

Arora joined SoftBank in 2014 after working at Google as chief business officer.

In May 2015, Son announced Arora was the leading candidate to become his successor, saying he was extremely knowledgeable and at top of the field in the internet and technology business.

The former Google executive was appointed SoftBank Group's president last year, while Son assumed the CEO and chairman positions.

Arora primarily oversaw SoftBank's investment business and actively invested in companies in Asia, such as India's e-commerce firm Snapdeal and the online transportation network company Ola.

He will remain at SoftBank for another year as an adviser and said on Twitter that he will continue to support companies that his team at SoftBank invested in.