President and chief operating officer of Japan’s SoftBank Corp. Nikesh Arora, will step down from the telecom giant effective June 22, the company said on Tuesday. Arora was the third-highest-paid executive in the world last year, according to Bloomberg. He earned about 16.6 billion yen ($135 million) between joining the company in September 2014 and the end of March 2015.
Arora took over as president and COO of SoftBank in May 2015, was seen as a potential successor to billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son.
“Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO of SBG, had been considering Arora as a strong candidate for succession. Son’s intention was to keep leading the Group in various aspects for the time being, while Arora wished to start taking over the lead in a few years’ time. 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,” SoftBank said in a statement.
Nikesh Arora has resigned from Softbank as its President and chief operating officer a day after he was given a clean chit in a probe that alleged foul play in the firm’s investments in Indian startups Oyo Rooms and Housing.com.
The former Google Inc executive was earlier this year accused of making bad deals, with a potential conflicts of interest tied to his role as an adviser to a private equity firm.
However, SoftBank said on Monday that a special committee formed to investigate the matter found no merit in allegations against Arora.
