Softbank COO Exits After Reported Fallout With Founder Masayoshi Son Over Pay

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Japan’s SoftBank Group on Friday announced the departure of its chief operating officer, Marcelo Claure, an exit that comes after reports of a clash over pay between Claure and the company’s founder and CEO Masayoshi Son.

Marcelo Claure, COO, Softbank Group, speaks onstage during the 2019 Concordia Annual Summit – Day 2 … [+] at Grand Hyatt New York.

Getty Images for Concordia Summit

Key Facts

In a press release, Softbank announced that Claure and the company have mutually agreed to part ways.

Claure’s deputy Michel Combes will take over from him as the CEO of SoftBank Group International, however, no replacement COO was named by the company.

The confirmation of Claure’s exit comes after Bloomberg reported of a clash between the outgoing COO and the company’s founder.

According to the report, Claure—who has been credited with helping turn around Sprint Mobile and WeWork—sought as much as $1 billion in compensation from Son, significantly higher than his current annual pay of ¥1.8 billion ($16 million).

Claure reportedly also pushed Son to spin off the company’s Latin American investment fund—which was overseen by him—arguing that it would help build the business while also boosting his pay.

The technology and investment giant’s stock rose about 2.2% in Tokyo on Friday, but it is still down more than 50% from its peak last year.

Key Background

Reuters reports that Claure’s exit adds to the uncertainty over who might take over from the 64-year-old Son. The company has had several high profile departures in recent years including several executives who were piped to take over from Son. Last year, three senior staffers—including chief strategy officer Katsunori Sago and Vision Fund executives Deep Nishar and Jeff Housenbold. The company’s investments have also taken a hit in the past year with China’s crackdown on domestic tech giants like Alibaba and Didi—two companies in which SoftBank is a major investor. Another SoftBank-backed company, India’s Paytm suffered a busted IPO—and its stocks are currently down more than 50% over its listing price.

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