Is SoftBank’s boss changing his ways?

“STONE-COLD crazy” was how a private-equity boss described the $1.7bn golden parachute that SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate, gave Adam Neumann, co-founder of WeWork, as part of the co-working empire’s bail-out last autumn. SoftBank appears to have come to its senses. On April 2nd it scrapped a deal to buy up to $3bn in WeWork shares, which would have made Mr Neumann a billionaire. SoftBank says American government probes into WeWork, whose initial public offering imploded in part over governance concerns, mean it doesn’t have to make the purchase. Two WeWork shareholders who would have benefited from the deal are suing SoftBank; Mr Neumann has yet to respond.