Proxy adviser opposes SoftBank board nomination

SoftBank plans to double its number of outside directors to four out of 13 at a shareholder meeting on June 25. The plan follows a torrid year with the group plunging to a record annual operating loss as Son’s massive, gut-driven bets on startups such as US office space sharing firm WeWork unravelled.

TOKYO: Proxy adviser Glass Lewis has urged SoftBank Group Corp shareholders to vote against the nomination to the board of a new outside director, in a sign of dissent with chief executive Masayoshi Son’s proposed corporate governance changes.

Glass Lewis opposes the nomination of Lip-Bu Tan, saying he is “overboarded”. Tan sits on boards including that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co as well as being CEO of chip design software company Cadence Design Systems Inc and chairman of venture capital firm Walden International.