SoftBank’s arm says China CEO fired for ‘serious irregularities’

Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk past signage for SoftBank Corp. near a store in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, May 15, 2020. SoftBank Group Corp. expects to book a record 1.35 trillion yen ($12.5 billion) operating loss for the fiscal year ended March 31 when it reports results on Monday. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

SOFTBANK Group Corp.’s Arm Ltd. and its Chinese chip venture clashed publicly Wednesday over whether the venture’s CEO had been fired, a dispute that threatens to disrupt a company central to the global semiconductor industry.

The British firm said Tuesday the board of Arm China -- jointly owned by Arm and investors including China’s sovereign wealth fund -- voted to remove Chief Executive Officer Allen Wu and replace him with a pair of co-CEOs. Hours later, Arm China posted a statement to its official WeChat account asserting Wu was still in charge and the venture was operating normally. The U.K. firm then fired back to say it stood by its original statement, adding that Wu had been fired after an investigation uncovered undisclosed conflicts of interest and violations of employee rules.