Almost everyone at SoftBank thinks going private is a bad idea, except Son

Preliminary work on a buyout got under way after a record drop in SoftBank shares in March, but the effort was later tabled as the stock price more than doubled with asset sales

Inside SoftBank Group Corp., the idea of going private through a buyout has been discussed off and on for at least five years. Almost everyone except founder Masayoshi Son opposes it, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

The reasons are substantial: No one has pulled off a buyout anywhere close to SoftBank’s $130 billion valuation, it’s not clear the company could raise the necessary financing and such a complex deal would prove a distraction for at least a year, the people said. Senior managers also worry that without public shareholders, it would be harder to keep Son’s wildest impulses