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SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son and Alibaba's Jack Ma part ways

"It's not like we had a fight," Son said during the virtual shareholder meeting. "This was perfectly amicable."

Masayoshi son, Jack ma, softbank, alibaba
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“It’s not like we had a fight. This was perfectly amicable,” said Masayoshi Son (left). Son is known for anointing the entrepreneurs he finds particularly promising as “the next Jack Ma” (right).

Bloomberg
SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son ended his company’s annual shareholder meeting with a surprise on Thursday by announcing he’s stepping down from the board of Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba Group Holding.

The billionaire said his departure shouldn’t be interpreted as signifying any disagreements, even though Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma is quitting SoftBank’s board at the same time. Ma and Son have maintained a close friendship since the Japanese entrepreneur was an early investor in Alibaba and helped it along to its current value of roughly $600 billion, calling it the crown jewel of SoftBank’s portfolio.

“It’s not like we had a fight,”