The sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi, the largest backers of SoftBank’s first fund, which raised US$100 billion and invested in Uber and WeWork, have not yet committed to this one. (Economic Times)

Talking point: On May 9, SoftBank announced it wanted its second fund to raise US$100 billion. The next day, Uber went public and its stock immediately dipped. WeWork later pulled out of its planned IPO and its valuation collapsed. Despite that, SoftBank said its portfolio is up 15 per cent, and that it has returned US$10 billion to investors. SoftBank’s giant first fund helped push tech firms’ private valuations to record heights. There are some signs this second fund could still end up relatively large. SoftBank’s board has signed off on deploying US$38 billion of the firm’s own money into the second fund over the next four years. One thing that will be different about this fund: SoftBank is looking for stronger governance and portfolio rights in firms in which it invests. WeWork CEO Adam Neumann got US$1.7 billion—and could make more—after leaving following criticism from institutional investors over the extent of his governance control.