Confirmed by SoftBank today, the news followed the departure of CEO Masayoshi Son in January as part of a leadership shake-up.
Son, who is scheduled to step down effective 1 April, was chairman but will be known as board director and founder from next month. Current president and CEO, Ken Miyauchi, has been appointed to the chairman’s role.
Sago joined SoftBank in 2018 from Japan Post Bank Co., where he served as EVP and has since been "a key contributor in planning and implementing SBG’s investment strategy", SoftBank said.
He was known as one of the "seven Samurai" heading SoftBank's accelerated investment activity. He was the first chief strategy officer for the group and at the time of writing, a replacement had not been named.
Commenting on the departure, Son said: “With his diverse experience in finance and investment, Sago-san dedicated himself to a variety of projects by bringing a whole new perspective as SBG transforms into a strategic investment holding company. As CSO, he played a crucial part in expanding SBG’s potential as an investment company.
“We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude for his contributions and achievements."
Last year, investor pressure pushed SoftBank to remove several high-profile executives from its board, including Sago, Vision Fund chief Rajeev Misra and COO Marcelo Claure.
In its latest financial results, SoftBank's income increased 6% in the first three quarters of the financial year, and it expects the increase to be 5.4% over the whole year.
The company plans to invest 2.2 trillion yen (US$21 billion) in 5G and 6G over the next 10 years. “We are steadily expanding our 5G service areas, with the aim of realizing a population coverage of over 90% by the end of FY2021,” SoftBank announced.
In terms of future focus, confirming Son's departure SoftBank said that, under the new leadership, it “will further promote its ‘Beyond Carrier’ strategy while advancing toward its second growth phase, making full use of cutting-edge technologies such as AI and 5G together with its group companies while striving to achieve sustainable growth of the telecommunications business”.
