TOKYO - Masayoshi Son's once-exalted reputation as an investor is badly tarnished, but the irrepressible founder of Japan's SoftBank is hoping that the mega-IPO of Arm this week might bring back the good times.
The flamboyant farmer's son who rose to become one of the world's richest people is hoping that the US listing of 10 percent of the chip designer will raise $4.5-5.2 billion.
That values the British firm at up to $52 billion, a healthy gain on the $32 billion SoftBank spent in 2016 to take control of it.
However, the valuation of Arm, whose products are used in 99 percent of the world's smartphones, is less than the $60-70 billion SoftBank was rumoured to be hoping for.
Such bullishness is typical for Son, 66, a man who when asked about going bald said: "My hair is not receding. I'm advancing."
The IPO "looks likely to be a damp squib as all indications are that it has much lower exposure to AI than what Son has been trumpeting-- no surprise there", Amir Anvarzadeh from Asymmetric Advisors said in a research note last week.
This is a reference to artificial intelligence, a future growth area that excites investors but where Arm -- which makes its money from smartphone microprocessors -- is seen as less strong.
In the past two years Softbank has reported losses of around $20-billion.
WeWork is only a going concern thanks to SoftBank's repeated cash injections but last month the US firm warned it might not survive.
The Arm IPO, this year's biggest flotation, is proving popular and is 10 times oversubscribed, prompting SoftBank to consider raising the price, according to reports.
Booking a gain from the Arm IPO "will help confirm he can deliver positive returns", said David Gibson of MST Financial.
SoftBank's remaining 90 percent in Arm could also be leveraged -- like with Alibaba -- to borrow money to invest in potential future golden eggs.
"Long term... I think Arm becomes a tool for financing investment into other unlisted tech companies," Gibson told AFP.