It is a round-down of epic scale — unless you are SoftBank. Two years ago, the US$100 billion Vision Fund manager slashed its WeWork valuation to US$2.9 billion from US$47 billion in 2019. While the absolute dollar amount involved with Klarna is much smaller, the blow to Son’s reputation is nonetheless as damaging. The second Vision Fund will soon have to write down its Klarna stake, wiping out much of its returns. At March 31, this US$56 billion fund recorded only US$0.8 billion investment gains. A SoftBank Vision Fund spokesman declined to comment on the queries sent by Bloomberg Opinion.
If the fiascoes at WeWork and Greensill Bank were not enough, Klarna Bank should serve as another fine reminder that SoftBank Group is the unluckiest whale in a crowded venture capital world. Founder Masayoshi Son somehow always manages to hold the worst cards.
The Sweden-based fintech, known for its buy-now-pay-later offering, is in talks to raise about US$650 million — mostly from existing investors led by Sequoia Capital. If completed, this deal would reset Klarna’s valuation to US$6.5 billion, a fraction of the US$45.6 billion it was priced at just a year ago in a US$639 million funding round led by SoftBank.
