Jack Ma steps down from SoftBank board

Jack Ma will resign from SoftBank board after serving as Director for 13 years, according to KrAsia.

Softbank also named three new Directors amid calls from an activist investor to boost shareholder returns and strengthen corporate governance.

SoftBank founder and chairman Masayoshi Son’s bet on Ma’s startup Alibaba in 2000 became known as one of the most successful deals in history.

Alibaba went on to become one of the world’s largest companies, with a market capitalization of USD 546 billion. SoftBank still holds about 25 per cent of the company.

In September 2019, Ma had resigned from Alibaba Chairman’s position.

India’s Reliance Jio raises US$870M from General Atlantic

India’s telecom operator Reliance Jio has raised another US$850 million in exchange for a 1.34 per cent stake from private equity firm General Atlantic, bringing its total raised till date to about US$8.9 billion, according to Entrackr.

This marks Jio’s fourth investment, in a succession of funding which was started by social media major Facebook, followed by private equity funds Silver Lake and Vista Equity Partners.

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The telecom business under Reliance has other digital properties and investments such as Jio Cinema, Jio Saavn (music streaming platform) and Haaptik (conversational AI platform).

Singapore’s YouTrip launches initiative to offer support to the creative community

Singapore’s multi-currency mobile wallet YouTrip has launched an initiative called CraftWithLove, which is a platform where Singaporean’s can showcase their artistic creations.

This initiative aims to raise awareness and support for individual’s in the creative community who have lost their gigs and jobs opportunities due to COVID-19.

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“Many local creatives are our best advocates, showing ardent support of YouTrip through their content. Now more than ever, they
are at the top of our minds, and #CraftWithLove is our way of going the extra mile to support them during this crisis,” said Caecilia Chu, Co-founder of YouTrip.

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Image Credit: SoftBank