SoftBank's hired gun takes high road to ownership

Hong Kong

SOFTBANK's hired gun is taking an unusually straightforward route to ownership. Recent recruit Nikesh Arora is investing 60 billion yen (S$688 million) in the Japanese tech group's shares. It's a refreshing alternative to the stock-based pay schemes that are the norm for SoftBank's Silicon Valley rivals. A strong show of confidence may also help the ex-Googler push through some of his more adventurous ideas.

Even for Mr Arora, who spent a decade at Google and was the search giant's highest-paid executive in 2012, the investment is - in his own words - "an enormous risk". It's almost four times the 16.6 billion yen the Japanese group paid him following his arrival last year, mostly as compensation for the restricted stock he left behind at Google.