SoftBank liquidates most of portfolio at ‘Nasdaq whale’ unit

SoftBank has closed most of its positions in the internal hedge fund SB Northstar following losses of between $6 billion and $7 billion from the so-called ‘Nasdaq whale’ trades, the Financial Times reports, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

Citing regulatory filings, the Financial Times reported Saturday that Northstar’s investment manager, SB Management, held a bit more than $1 billion in US listed stocks at the end of 2021, down from more than $17 billion a year earlier. The majority of their European investments were also dissolved during the same period, which included a $5 billion bet on drug-maker Roche Holding AG, the person told the FT. The ‘handful’ of positions left had been transferred to SoftBank Group, FT reported.

Referencing SoftBank’s earnings presentation last November, the company told FT that SB Northstar’s activities and its portfolio had been significantly reduced as founder Masayoshi Son had said at the time.

Akshay Naheta, a senior SoftBank executive who had worked on some of the company’s biggest deals, also left the company on Thursday, the paper reported, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter. Bloomberg reported in December that the executive was in talks to leave in order to focus on his long-only fund.

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