Founder Masayoshi Son is trying to turn round the fortunes of SoftBank following a historic loss for its Vision Fund unit. But moves to counteract falling profits and a dwindling share price are too little, too late. They include steep pay cuts for executives of the Japanese tech investment group.

The surprisingly steep reductions follow a record investment loss of ￥3.5tn ($27.5bn) at the Vision Fund unit for the year to March. Oddly, Son’s pay was unchanged at Y100mn ($785,000). Executives who suffered pay package shrinkage included chief financial officer Yoshimitsu Goto. His remuneration dropped 40 per cent compared with the previous year

SoftBank has a history of largesse. Simon Segars, the former chief executive of the company’s chip unit Arm, earned $9mn during the three months that he was a board director. Former chief operating officer Marcelo Claure, who left SoftBank earlier this year after months of frosty negotiations over pay, earned more than $14mn in the year before his departure. That put him on a par with former chief operating officer of Bank of America Thomas Montag.