Alok Sama on the smear campaign against him at SoftBank, and working with Masa
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. In 2020, theWall Street Journal reported that two senior executives at SoftBank Group—Nikesh Arora and Alok Sama—had been targeted by internal rivals in a smear campaign. According to the report, these rivals had sent letters to the Japanese investment firm’s board levelling serious allegations against the two executives, triggering investigations into their India-focussed investments.
Although WSJ named the people involved in this campaign, Sama himself has been silent on the matter so far. For the first time, he has gone into some detail on what transpired then, in his book, ‘Money Trap: Grand Fortunes and Lost Illusions Inside the Tech Bubble’, fresh after receiving his Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University. Sama declined to be drawn into who he thought was responsible for the smear campaign or whether it was resolved fully.
But in his book, Sama addresses how the matter was discussed internally within SoftBank and how it took a toll on him and his family. Despite support from his bosses, Sama paid a price. When the group’s $100 billion Vision Fund 1 was launched in 2017, SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son (known popularly as Masa) asked Sama to step aside as the firm’s investors, or limited partners, conducting due diligence had questions about the rumours surrounding Sama.
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