Wirecard Is a Wild Card, Even Without SoftBank Money
The Japanese company doesn't have to take a writedown for shareholders to be worried.
Carded.
Photographer: Bloomberg
What’s more perplexing, a company that can’t seem to avoid due diligence failures, or one that throws its name behind a controversial partner without putting in a dime? Investors in SoftBank Group Corp. may have seen a bit of both. Now, its entanglement with Wirecard AG leaves shareholders wondering exactly what kind of business they’ve been sinking their money into.
Over the past year, SoftBank’s $80 billion startup splurge has quickly unraveled, as WeWork imploded and the initial public offering of Uber Technologies Inc. fell flat. But unlike WeWork, Wirecard won’t force SoftBank to write down any assets — because the tech conglomerate never put money into Wirecard itself.