SoftBank Group Announces Management Transition

TOKYO – SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank”) today announced that the company and Marcelo Claure have mutually agreed to part ways after a successful nine-year partnership. In conjunction with Mr. Claure’s departure, Michel Combes has been appointed as CEO of SoftBank Group International (“SBGI”). In this position, he will oversee SBGI’s operating and investment portfolio^*.

Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., said, “Marcelo has made many contributions to SoftBank during his time here and we thank him for his dedication and wish him continued success in his future endeavors. I have great confidence in Michel Combes and the talented SoftBank team to continue with the great work we have underway at SBGI.”

Mr. Claure said, “I will forever be grateful for my experience at SoftBank over the last nine years. I have had the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s great executives and entrepreneurs, and tackle several immense professional challenges, which makes the success we achieved together that much more rewarding. Beyond the value we have created for SoftBank stockholders, we have invested in some of the most innovative and disruptive companies that will be industry leaders for decades to come. I am particularly grateful to Masayoshi Son, who gave me the opportunity to thrive at SoftBank and served as a mentor and friend during my tenure.” 

Mr. Combes said, “I am extremely grateful to Masayoshi Son for this opportunity and to Marcelo for his friendship and partnership.”

As CEO of SBGI and Corporate Officer, Executive Vice President & COO of SoftBank, Mr. Claure helped lead highly consequential projects over the last several years, including the turnaround of Sprint and the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, the successful repositioning of WeWork, the launch of Latin America’s largest venture capital fund, and the launch of the SB Opportunity Fund to invest in underrepresented racial minorities.

* SBGI includes the SoftBank Latin America Funds and the SB Opportunity Fund.

Michel Combes Biographical Information

Mr. Combes has significant leadership experience at multinational companies across industries. He joined SBGI as President in April 2020 and serves on several boards of directors of SoftBank portfolio companies, including WeWork Inc., OneWeb, SoFi Technologies, Inc, Contentsquare, Jellysmack and Swile. Mr. Combes also serves on the boards of directors of Philip Morris International and Etisalat Group. 

Before joining SBGI, Mr. Combes served as CEO of Sprint. Before Sprint, Mr. Combes served as CEO of several companies, including Altice, Alcatel-Lucent and Vodafone Europe. Mr. Combes is a graduate of École Polytechnique, Télécom ParisTech and Paris Dauphine University.