The whole point is that you look at any of the investments SoftBank has made in the past 2 years, and it is the same pattern.
- The startup is at a modest valuation pre-entry of SoftBank.
- SoftBank enters in a round and intentionally makes it substantially larger than any of the previous rounds, and at a good valuation (Please note: A lot of times, even the founders were not hoping for a round of this size)
- SoftBank reinvests in a follow-up round... Even larger round...Ridiculously high valuation.
- Is the company growing? Of course it is. With the kind of cash they have to fuel growth, it would be insane if they didn't... But is it growing in a way that supports the valuation growth curve? Highly doubtful.
So the question we are left with is Why?
And then, there is SoftBank's complete "nothing to see here" approach to gross misuse of the funds the startups have raised. A lot of founders have borrowed HUGE sums of money from the companies - using the money that was supposedly invested for growth of the company.