(Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T> is planning to lend up to $20 billion to its employees, including Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, to buy stakes in its second Vision Fund, the Wall Street Journal reported https://on.wsj.com/307Ljih on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Son himself may account for over half of that amount, the Journal reported, adding that executives feel that such a step will make employees more accountable as the investments of the fund can be canceled if a manager leaves or is found to have engaged in a “reckless deal”.
The loans are likely to have an interest rate of about 5%, the WSJ said, citing a source.
The government of Kazakhstan, an investor in the fund, is expected to make a contribution of about $3 billion while banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc
SoftBank is discussing with many pensions and insurers, including in Taiwan, for total investments that it hopes will cross $30 billion, the WSJ reported.
SoftBank was not immediately available for a comment on Saturday.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru)
