Nikesh Arora resigns as SoftBank President, vows to continue helping Indian startups

Arora was a former chief business officer at Google Inc., which he joined in 2004 after before being recruited by company chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son.

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SoftBank President Nikesh Arora has announced his decision to step down from his position.

Japan-based SoftBank Group Corporation President Nikesh Arora on Tuesday announced his decision to step down from his position.

SoftBank said Arora and Chairman and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son had disagreed over when Arora would replace Son as head of the group. His decision to step down comes less than two years since he joined the Japanese Internet conglomerate.

Arora, who is the Representative Director, President and COO of SBG currently, will assume an advisory role, effective July 1.

Arora took to Twitter to announce his decision on Tuesday.

Masa 2 continue 2 be CEO for 5-10 years, respect that. Learnt a lot. Clean chit from board after through review. Time for me to move on.

— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) June 21, 2016

Plan to support them for an year, hence continuing as advisor. https://t.co/JBtSiFdSvJ

— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) June 21, 2016

Going to continue to support the Indian startup ecosystem….can’t change faith if you change jobs :)! https://t.co/ILIlS6qdcp

— Nikesh Arora (@nikesharora) June 21, 2016

“The difference of expected timelines between the two leads to Arora’s resignation from the position of
representative Director and Director of SBG with the expiration of the term of office and his next steps,” the Japanese firm statement said.

Arora was a former chief business officer at Google Inc., which he joined in 2004 before being recruited by company chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son. At Google, Arora oversaw sales, marketing and partnerships, an outsider’s job at a company, where engineering skills are prized above all else.

FROM OUR ARCHIVES: 2011 Idea Exchange with Nikesh Arora

The buttoned-down and polished Arora, who has a masters degree in business from Northeastern University and previously worked at T-Mobile Europe, became one of the most powerful Google executives, and the highest paid in 2012, when he made $51 million in cash and stock.

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Softbank, owned by legendary investor Masayoshi Son, owns U.S. mobile carrier Sprint and is the largest investor in China e-commerce company Alibaba.

(With inputs from agencies)