SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son has delivered a clear response to critics who thought the twin disasters of WeWork and the coronavirus would bring down his empire: not just yet.
The technology giant’s shares have more than doubled from their March low, propelled by buybacks and improving market conditions for its portfolio companies. They gained another 3.6 percent on Monday. SoftBank bonds, which traded at less than 65 cents on the dollar in March, have recovered to near par. Son, 62, has seen his own net worth soar to $20 billion, the highest since the Bloomberg Billionaires Index began tracking his wealth.
Plenty of investors remain skeptical of SoftBank and Son himself. Still, multiple factors suggest more room for short-term gains: Earnings are set to recover from last quarter’s record loss, shorts are under pressure to cover losing bets by buying shares and SoftBank’s share buybacks of as much as ¥2.5 trillion ($23.4 billion) are just getting started.