Son Quietly Ups SoftBank Stake to 34%, Edging Toward Buyout (2)

Masayoshi Son has quietly tightened his grip on SoftBank Group Corp. during a tumultuous market downturn, edging closer to the point where he could bid to take the world’s largest technology investor private.

The billionaire now owns more than a third of the company he founded, after aggressive buybacks in the last two months reduced SoftBank’s outstanding stock by almost 90 million. Son’s stake in the company rose to 34.2% from 32.2% as of end-September, according to Bloomberg calculations based on company filings. That’s up from 26.7% as recently as March 2019.

SoftBank’s share price reversed losses to close up ...