A stock market filing submitted on Tuesday showed that shareholder support for SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son's reappointment has dropped from 95.93% last year to 79.22%. This decline is attributed to proxy advisory firm ISS recommending shareholders vote against his reappointment. ISS's advice significantly influenced the shareholder vote, leading to a marked decrease in support for Masayoshi Son.
SoftBank explained the reasons for ISS's opposition to Masayoshi Son's reappointment in a press release early June. ISS believes that the average return on equity for SoftBank's technology investment group over the past five years has been below 5%, which is underwhelming. This figure falls short of investor expectations, casting doubt on Masayoshi Son's leadership abilities and prompting ISS to advise shareholders against supporting his reappointment.
Among other SoftBank directors, external director Kenneth Siegel also received relatively low shareholder support. However, his support rate has slightly improved from last year's 66.9% to 68.46% this year. Kenneth Siegel is the managing partner at the Tokyo office of Morrison Foerster and has played a crucial role in some key transactions for SoftBank. Despite this, his support rate remains low, indicating limited shareholder recognition of his contributions.
