Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group announced that it found complaints and allegations against its president and chief operating officer Nikesh Arora to be unsubstanitated. In January, a group of investors sent letters to the boards of SoftBank and Sprint calling for a probe and possible dismissal of Arora over his investment track record and conflict of interest as a senior advisor to private equity firm Silver Lake. "The Special Committee has concluded that the claims concerning the conduct of Mr. Arora during his tenure at SBG are without merit," SoftBank's statement read. The Special Committee was formed in February this year to review complaints/ allegations with the help from independent counsel at Shearman & Sterling LLP and Anderson Mori & Tomotsune. The letter came from a US-based law firm Boies Schiller & Flexner and did not identify the investors. The investors alleged that Arora was compensated by Silver Lake for helping with potential technology company investments that were similar to the investments he made for SoftBank. It also questioned Arora’s “poor investment performance” including SoftBank’s investment in real estate portal Housing. At the time, SoftBank Group chairman Masayoshi Son extended his support to Arora. “I have complete trust in Nikesh and one thousand percent confidence in him and know he will continue to do great things for SoftBank in the future,” Son said. Elevation to head of global operations Arora, currently the number two at SoftBank, is widely believed to be Son's heir for the company. In March, SoftBank Group split into two organizations which would look into domestic and global operations.…
