SoftBank Vision Fund U.S. managing partner Ronen leaves

By Jane Lanhee Lee and Abhishek Manikandan

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - SoftBank Group's Vision Fund said on Tuesday that Michael Ronen, a managing partner in the United States who oversaw many of its transportation investments, had left the company.

SoftBank, one of the world's biggest tech investors, has come under pressure following the botched public debut of office-sharing startup WeWork late last year on which it had made a big bet.

Ronan, one of Vision Fund's five U.S. managing partners, had been overseeing companies like Getaround Inc, GM Cruise LLC, Flexport Inc, and Nuro, Inc for SoftBank.

The Financial Times first reported on Tuesday that Ronan was leaving the $100 billion Vision Fund after expressing concerns about "issues" at SoftBank. It added that the fund was also in talks with long-time SoftBank executive Ron Fisher about his future.

A SoftBank spokesman said Fisher will not be leaving the company.

Neither Ronan nor Fisher responded to requests for comment.

SoftBank was planning to launch its second Vision Fund with $108 billion, but has been unable to raise the funds needed. It has been making investments from funds earmarked by SoftBank Group for the Vision Fund 2.

(Reporting by Jane Lanhee Lee in San Francisco and Abhishek Manikandan in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Henderson, Shinjini Ganguli and Richard Chang)

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Heidi L. O'Neill resigns from Lithia Motors board
• Bernstein sees downside risk to Apple's December quarter results
• This Is The Top REIT Stock Stifel Analysts Are Backing Right Now