![[서울신문] 7 times bigger after 6 years of investment in Coupang… Who is the biggest beneficiary of the Coupang listing?](https://img.seoul.co.kr/img/upload/2021/02/14/SSI_20210214135359.jpg "[서울신문] 7 times bigger after 6 years of investment in Coupang… Who is the biggest beneficiary of the Coupang listing?")
Son Jung-e’s vision fund listed in Coupang, earned $19 billion
‘Midas’ hand that turns mystery investment into gold’.
The news of Coupang’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) made Son Jeong-eui, chairman of Softbank Group (SBG) laugh. SBG’s Vision Fund invested $2.7 billion (3.300 trillion) in Coupang twice in 2015 and 2018, despite pointing out the ‘10,000-year deficit’.
According to industry forecasts on the 14th, Coupang’s holdings worth about 50 billion dollars (55 trillion won) after listing, in this case, the value of Coupang’s stake (37%) held by SBG’s Vision Fund is expected to reach 19 billion dollars (21 trillion won). By investing $2.7 billion, it is about seven times more profitable in six years.
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▲ Kim Bum-seok (right), CEO of Coupang and Son Jeong-eui, chairman of Softbank Group, are taking a commemorative photo at SoftBank Group headquarters in Tokyo, Japan on November 20, 2018. Softbank Vision Fund has a 38% stake in Coupang, investing $2.7 billion twice in 2015 and 2018. Coupang offer
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At the time of investment, Coupang’s corporate value was $5 billion and $9 billion, respectively. In particular, in 2018, Coupang recorded a cumulative operating deficit of close to 2 trillion won. Nevertheless, Chairman Son doubled the amount of Coupang investment compared to the initial investment ($1 billion) and said, “The vision and leadership shown by CEO Bum-Seok Kim (currently Chairman) has made Coupang a leader in the Korean e-commerce market and one of the most innovative Internet companies in the world. “And sent infinite trust.
Chairman Son has shown an investment pattern that takes’risk’ without hesitation when an opportunity is seized. He is also famous for having invested 20 million dollars (20 billion won) after meeting Alibaba founder Ma Yun in 2000. Since then, he has earned more than 2000 times the profits of Alibaba’s listing in New York in 2014.
Meanwhile, the Vision Fund was invested by 28% and 45% respectively by SBG and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF. If this is calculated simply, SBG’s revenue from the listing of Coupang is expected to be about $5.3 billion (5.7 trillion won). Earlier, Chairman Son Jeong-eui announced the recovery of Coupang investment (exit) in the third quarter of last year.
Reporter Myeong Hee-jin [email protected]
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