What was changed
In February 2020 Elliott disclosed a stake of almost $3 billion in SoftBank and urged governance changes, transparency at the Vision Fund and a buyback of up to $20 billion (Reuters via The Economic Times).
On March 13, 2020 SoftBank announced a ¥500 billion ($4.8 billion) buyback covering up to 7% of shares; on March 23 it said it would sell or monetize up to ¥4.5 trillion ($41 billion) of assets to fund a ¥2 trillion buyback and cut debt (CNBC).
The program was expanded to ¥2.5 trillion (about $23 billion) and largely executed through 2020. By July 2020 SoftBank shares had climbed about 130% from March lows to 20-year highs as the buybacks shrank the discount to asset value (Reuters via Business Insider).
What it achieved
SoftBank launched a ¥500B buyback, expanded it to ¥2.5T (~$23B) funded by up to ¥4.5T of asset sales; shares rose ~130% from March lows by July 2020.
Why it worked
The letter named the discount and the fix in one document.
Asset sales gave the buyback a credible funding source.
Transparency demands changed how SoftBank talked to investors.
Executed buybacks proved the thesis instead of just promising it.
What can be applied
A written demand for buybacks and transparency can force a capital-structure answer; SoftBank adopted Elliott's plan and the market repriced the stock.
Aftermath
SoftBank repeated the play when the discount reopened: it continued monetizing stakes and launched further large buybacks in 2021-2022. The 2020 episode showed a written capital-return plan could force a response from even the most founder-controlled companies.
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