Thomas BabychanIn the latest development, Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank International, Michel Combes, has decided to leave the company. He was appointed as CEO of Softbank International (SBGI) just 5 months ago, and his current move was unexpected.
Softbank international is the overseas arm of SoftBank Group Corp, based in Minato, Tokyo.
Michel Combes who joined SBGI as president in April 2020 was part of many important deals and investments. American tech company Sprint’s merger with T-Mobile received approval from the regulators when Combes were at the helm.
Combes also oversaw the conversion of WeWork Inc. into a public company after a failed IPO in 2019.
WeWork became a public company via a special-purpose acquisition company (black check company) in 2021 for a valuation of $9 billion.
In an official statement, Michel thanked everyone at Softbank for being joyful and amazing. He also said that he was leaving SoftBank with pride in achieving everything possible.
It is also criticalto note that apart from the WeWork deal and the T-Mobile deal, Michel worked on the integration of SoftBank Latin America funds with the vision fund. And oversaw SoftBank’s strategic investments in France and European portfolio companies.
CEO of Softbank group corp. (parent company of SBGI) Masayoshi Son, reportedly said that Michel was a significant part of the multinational conglomerate for the last 5 years. He said that he was pleased to know Michel will continue to present Softbank on multiple portfolio company boards.
Son also wished Michel all the best in his future endeavours.
As of now, there is no official information regarding the reason Michel Combs is leaving the post of CEO. Some media report suggests that he “has decided to leave SoftBank to pursue new opportunities.”
Alex Clavel new CEO of SBGI
Soon after Michel’s announcement, Softbank group corp announced the appointment of Alex Clavel as CEO of Softbank group international. Alex Clavel who was working as a managing partner in SBGI will take over as CEO from June 30th, 2022.
Alex Clavel who started at Softbank in 2015, worked at Morgan Stanley before for 19 years. At Morgan Stanley, he was part of investment banking focused on technology, media, and telecom.
About Michel Combs –
Michel Combes was CEO of Vodafone Europe from 2008 to 2012. In 2013, French American telecom equipment company Alcatel-Lucent appointed him as CEO. He left Alcatel-Lucent in 2015 to Altice and became CEO of Altice in 2016.
The turning point of events started when Michel Combs was appointed as CEO of Sprint Corporations, a US telecom company, in May 2018. His tenure ceased in April 2020 when sprint merged with T-Mobile.