Japanese Female Billionaire Set To Join SoftBank Board, Boosts Gaming Credentials

SoftBank is expected to add Keiko Erikawa, one of the few female billionaires in Japan, to its board of directors, a move that could help the Tokyo-based technology giant push into the booming field of games.

Pending shareholder approval on June 23, Erikawa, 72, would be the only female board member after Yuko Kawamoto, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo, announced she is resigning from the company’s board this month after one year in the role. Kawamoto, who was the first woman to ever serve on SoftBank’s board, said she stepped down due to her appointment as a commissioner of the National Personnel Authority.

“SoftBank is undergoing a period of transformation,” says Abishur Prakash, cofounder of consulting firm Center for Innovating the Future. “Now, with the pandemic rewiring economies and societies, SoftBank’s investment strategy may be changing. Bringing on Keiko Erikawa could be the beginning of SoftBank deepening its focus in verticals like gaming.”

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Erikawa founded videogame developer Koei Tecmo Holdings with her husband, Yoichi, four decades ago. Koei Tecmo’s shares have more than doubled in the past year, thanks to rising demand for its games from those homebound by the pandemic. One Nintendo Switch game, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, globally sold more than 3.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2020, just over a month after its release last November. Erikawa’s net worth, which she shares with her husband, was up 144% to $3.3 billion in this year’s Japan Rich List.

“Because gaming is becoming such a big industry in markets like India and China, SoftBank could use [Erikawa’s expertise] to tap these opportunities,” Prakash says.

Recently, SoftBank, led by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, has been investing in the logistics and warehouse robotics sectors. Its Vision Fund invested in JD Logistics’ $3.2 billion initial public offering in Hong Kong last month, the second-largest listing in the city so far this year. In April, SoftBank invested $2.8 billion for a 40% stake in AutoStore, a Norwegian company that specializes in warehouse automation technology designed to support e-commerce operations.

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SoftBank’s biggest investment success story so far this year was Korean e-commerce giant Coupang. Its New York IPO in March raised $4.6 billion, making it the largest Asian company since Alibaba to go public in the U.S.

“I think more than anything it’s significant that they have Keiko Erikawa joining the SoftBank board,” says Sean Su, an independent tech sector analyst in Taiwan. “SoftBank is known for high risk, and in comparison, Koei Temco is a very conservative choice. They make good games, and they do sell.”