SoftBank communications chief Gary Ginsberg takes leave to aid Bloomberg
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[February 29, 2020]
By Kenneth Li and Greg Roumeliotis
(Reuters) - Gary Ginsberg, the global head
of communications for SoftBank Group Corp <9984.T>, has taken an
indefinite leave of absence to advise Michael Bloomberg's U.S.
presidential campaign, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
Ginsberg has been on unpaid leave from SoftBank since January, and it
remains unclear when he will return, the sources said. His move comes as
the Japanese conglomerate is battling to reset its image with the
business community, so it can attract investors for the second $108
billion Vision Fund it has been struggling to raise.
Ginsberg is working as a senior adviser to the Bloomberg campaign, the
sources said. He has advised on debate preparation, messaging and has
helped make introductions in the political and media spheres, the
sources added.
Ginsberg's deputy, Sarah Lubman, has taken over as acting head of
communications at SoftBank, the sources said.
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SoftBank and Ginsberg declined to comment, while Bloomberg's campaign
could not immediately be reached for comment.
Ginsberg was a long-time top adviser to Rupert Murdoch, and was the top
communications executive at Time Warner before AT&T Inc <T.N> acquired
the media conglomerate in 2018.
A former lawyer at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Ginsberg served in
the Clinton administration at the White House Counsel's office and the
Justice Department, according to his biography.
News of Ginsberg advising Bloomberg was first reported by CNN's Brian
Stelter earlier this month.
SoftBank is currently struggling to raise a successor to its $100
billion Vision Fund, the performance of which has suffered from big bets
on start-ups such as WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc <UBER.N>.
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![](../images/022920pics/news_s35.jpg)
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg speaks at a
campaign event in Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. February 28, 2020.
REUTERS/Karen Pulfer Focht
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It is also facing pressure from Elliott Management Corp, an activist
investor that has a $3 billion stake in the company.
Amid all this, a Wall Street Journal report this week found that
Rajeev Misra, CEO of SoftBank Investment Advisers, which oversees
the Vision Fund, tried to smear other SoftBank executives and
prevent them from getting top jobs.
Misra denies the allegations and says they contain a series of
falsehoods. SoftBank said it has investigated a campaign of
"falsehoods" against the company for several years and that it would
review the inferences made by the Wall Street Journal.
Bloomberg, a former mayor of New York City, will be on ballots for
the first time on Tuesday, when 14 U.S. states and one U.S.
territory host primaries for the Democratic nomination to challenge
U.S. President Donald Trump for the White House.
A billionaire businessman, Bloomberg skipped the early states and
has spent more than $500 million running ads in these so-called
"Super Tuesday" states, as he tries to surpass Joe Biden and Pete
Buttigieg as the front-runner among moderates. He faces an uphill
battle in overtaking the favorite for the Democratic nomination,
Senator Bernie Sanders.
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(Reporting by Kenneth Li and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing
by Steve Orlofsky; Additional reporting by Anirban Sen in Bangalore
and Joshua Franklin in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)
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