What's going on?

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank reported a new biggest-ever quarterly loss on Monday.

What does this mean?

SoftBank�s Vision Fund business � which manages the world�s biggest tech-focused investment funds � continues to be pummeled by a sharp selloff in tech stocks on the back of rising interest rates. It posted a record $17.2 billion loss last quarter, caused by big drop-offs in the value of key holdings like DoorDash, Coupang, and SenseTime. That means the segment was largely responsible for SoftBank�s $23.4 billion total loss � its second record loss in a row.

SoftBank�s shares barely budged after the news, probably because investors were already well aware that this was on the cards. So by now, they�re probably wondering what the point is: SoftBank�s share price is now close to where it was five years ago, before the Vision Fund even existed�

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Keep it on the down-low.
SoftBank�s Vision Fund also holds big stakes in hundreds of unlisted tech startups. And while it�s much harder to value those investments, it doesn�t sound like things are going particularly well: SoftBank wrote down their values last quarter, after weak performances across the board and lower valuations in recent fundraising rounds. That�ll make it even harder for SoftBank to get out of this rut: it�s now less likely to list these firms on the stock market, which means it has less cash to plow into new investments.

Zooming in: Buy never, pay never.
Klarna is SoftBank�s problem in a nutshell: the buy-now-pay-later company � and member of SoftBank�s Vision Fund � saw its valuation slashed by 85% after its fundraising round last month, taking it from $46 billion to just $7 billion (tweet this). That�s down to two big problems: customers saddled with debt are struggling with the �pay later� bit, while others are simply deciding not to �buy now� in the first place.