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Softbank is exerting even more influence over Sprint.
Sprint said on Friday that Nikesh Arora, who serves as CEO of Softbank Internet and Media and vice chairman of Softbank, joined the wireless carrier’s board, which expanded to nine directors.
It’s the latest move by Softbank, which owns a majority stake in Sprint, to inject the struggling wireless carrier with more energy and with more personnel who share Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son’s vision. Son tapped Marcelo Claure to serve as Sprint’s CEO in August, and he has immediately gone to work introducing new discounts and aggressive promotions.
Sprint, however, continues to struggle, last week posting a wider loss and only managing to eke out customer gains by growing its lower-revenue wholesale business. Claure said he is beginning to see the start of a turnaround on customer growth, but investors remain concerned that its profitability and revenue will continue to take a hit.
Arora previously served as chief business officer and senior vice president of Google, where he was often the face of the company during its earnings conference calls. He joined Softbank in October.
“His broad experience and executive leadership in leading-edge technology companies will provide valuable insight and perspective to further Sprint’s growth and overall competitiveness,” Son said.
