Appointed CEO of SoftBank Internet and Media.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Google’s Chief Business Officer (CBO) and recent newlywed Nikesh Arora will leave the California-based tech giant to join SoftBank Corp., the Japanese telecom corporation.
In his new job at SoftBank, Arora will be the Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company’s upcoming SoftBank Internet and Media, Inc. subsidiary. The announcement of Arora’s move, which is big news for Google and other companies in the tech industry, came via a press release from SoftBank on Thursday.
“As we enter the next phase of our expansion I can’t think of a better person than Nikesh to help us chart that course,” said Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s Chairman and CEO. “As Vice Chairman, he will work closely with me in defining, implementing and managing our global growth strategy. In addition, as CEO of SIMI he will be directly responsible for overseeing our Internet, telecommunications, media and global investment activities, which we have been developing over the last few years.”
During his time with Google, Arora has been a major part of some of company’s biggest technology roll-outs. Most recently, he has been keenly involved with the development and release strategy for Google Glass, the controversial eyewear computer that has a camera and all sorts of other nifty gadgets, which is set to become widely available in 2015.
Originally from India, Arora earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) BHU Varanasi before coming to the US, where he earned an additional degree from Boston College and his M.B.A. from Northeastern University. He has held high-level positions at T-Mobile and Bharti Airtel Europe, and has also worked for Fidelity Investments, Putnam Investments, and Deutche Telekom.
“I have had the good fortune of getting to know Nikesh over the last five years. He brings a rare set of skills: amazing financial and strategic acumen; a decade of executive experience at one of the fastest growing companies in history; a deep understanding of the telecommunications industry. This makes him uniquely qualified to help guide us through our next stage of growth. Our intention is to nominate Nikesh to the SoftBank Corp. board at our next shareholder meeting,” Son also said.
Founded in 1981, SoftBank is one of the largest companies in all of Japan, with assets totaling roughly $48.33 billion (or 4.899 trillion Yen) as of 2012. The company is best known as the sole provider of Apple’s iPhone device within Japan, and last year came into possession of an 80% stake in the Spring Corporation.