- SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said it was “wholly possible” SoftBank could back out of its multibillion-dollar investment in Uber at the last minute. The deal would give SoftBank as much as a 17% stake in Uber. SoftBank may choose to instead invest in Uber’s chief rival, Lyft.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son says it’s “wholly possible” Uber may lose out to its chief rival, Lyft, on a multibillion-dollar investment from SoftBank.
During a press conference on Monday, Son suggested that SoftBank could still back out of the investment in Uber at the last minute, Bloomberg reported.
“Depending on the price and conditions, it is wholly possible we could shift our investment to the other main company Lyft. It is wholly possible,” Son said, according to Bloomberg. “We won’t know until the very end.”
Through its $93 billion Vision Fund, Softbank is in talks with Uber about a massive deal that would give SoftBank as much as a 17% stake in Uber.
Uber's board of directors voted last month to move forward with the SoftBank negotiations as part of a bargain to settle an internal battle that has wracked the ride-hailing company for months, with the goal of paving the way to an initial public offering in two years.
In mid-October, Uber board member Arianna Huffington said at a conference that the investment would be finalized "very likely in the next week" and that Uber was still waiting on "what is going to transpire with the price."