SoftBank CEO assures US investors he'll be more cautious

Hedge fund Elliott Management is urging the firm to buy back some $20b of stock.

SoftBank Group chief executive Masayoshi Son told US investors that he’ll be more careful after several investments, including office-sharing firm WeWork, went south, Reuters reports.

Hedge fund Elliott Management has had discussions with SoftBank management and is urging the company to buy back some $20b of its stock and increase its board’s independence and transparency.

Son said he has not considered opinions of investors and the company’s independent board members, pointing to SoftBank’s stock trading at a big discount to the value of assets as an opportunity for investors to buy in.

His investment on companies heavy on disruptive technology has helped make him one of the world's wealthiest investors, but it has also led to blunders that have blemished SoftBank's performance.

Most notable was WeWork, in which SoftBank invested billions of dollars in to back former CEO Adam Neumann before bailing the company out to replace him.

Here’s more from Reuters.