SoftBank’s 6 mega IPO bets in 2021 that might make Masayoshi Son demi-god for technology startups

SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son was successfully able to silence his critics in 2020 after recovering from WeWork’s failed IPO fiasco with around $10 billion profit in December from investment in the food delivery startup DoorDash’s public offering and another successful IPO of Chinese online property platform KE Holdings in August. The criticism around Son’s strategy to back founders with unbridled capital to become market leaders was thrown out of the window to a significant extent. Now in 2021, Son is staring at the IPO windfall to continue with around six of the fund’s portfolio startups lined up for public offering likely in the new year that might reinforce Son’s stature as the ultimate startup backer.