Asia’s companies splurge on buybacks as Western firms shun them

Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., points at a member of the media during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020. In a sign of continuing struggles with its startup investments, SoftBank lost money again in its Vision Fund, one quarter after the Japanese company posted a record quarterly loss driven by the meltdown at WeWork. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

ASIAN tycoons are gung-ho on share buybacks at a time when industry leaders in the U.S. and Europe are holding back because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Masayoshi Son’s Softbank Group Corp. has pledged 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) to buy back shares. Indian billionaire Dilip Shanghvi’s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has committed 17 billion rupees ($225 million) to repurchase stock.