Coming fresh off the heels of the closing its Vision Fund, SoftBank Group has announced the induction of several new executives to its board of directors. One of the prominent new board members will have to be India-born Rajeev Misra, who has just recently been appointed as the chief executive officer of the group’s monstrous $93 billion tech-focused investment fund.
The 54-year old Rajeev Misra resides in London with his family, right where the Vision Fund has been based out of. He is currently appointed as the chief executive of SB Investment Advisers, the Vision Fund’s primary investment adviser. Within just two years of joining the Japanese telecom giant, Misra has been elevated to such high ranks. He has even been selected as a significant member of the key investment committee, along with SoftBank CEO and Chairman Masayoshi Son.
His appointment as chief executive officer of the monstrous Vision Fund, which recently closed at $93 billion, was first announced alongside the announcement of the said fund back in September last year. He played an important role in collaborating with Saudi Arabia and putting together the fund for investments into what has been described as ‘futuristic technologies’.
It is the biggest pool of investment capital and will prominently be invested in artificial intelligence and AR/VR innovations. And, the said fund has received a staggering $45 billion from the Saudi Arabian government, along with additional support from tech bigwigs such as Apple ($1 billion), Qualcomm and Foxconn.
Misra joined SoftBank after departing from global investment management firm Fortress Investments Group LLC, where he had worked for less than a year. He is also recognized as a former debt trading veteran and has worked with leading bigwigs, such as Deutsche Bank and Swiss financial company UBS AG.
Going back in time, Misra completed his schooling from Delhi Public School (Mathura Road in Delhi itself) and moved on to secure his bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi. He also bagged a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
In addition to Misra, SoftBank has also inducted multiple other high-profile executives to its board of directors — which is an honor in itself. The Japanese giant has nominated Marcelo Claure, chief executive officer of U.S-based wireless telecom giant Sprint Corp, and Simon Segars, CEO of British chip designer ARM Holdings to the board. It has also appointed some external directors to bring more insight into the group.
The Group has also nominated Mark Schwartz, senior director at Goldman Sachs & Co LLC, and Yasir O. Al-Rumayyan, managing director of Saudi Arabia’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Public Investment Fund as external directors, reports Reuters. Alibaba’s CEO Jack Ma, for those unaware, is already one of the board members of SoftBank Group.
The election of Misra and all aforementioned board members still needs regulatory approval and will be finalized during SoftBank’s annual general meeting. It has been scheduled for June 21 this year around and will focus on the company’s efforts to induce more growth into its telecom & chip businesses while supporting upcoming tech startups with fresh investments.
