SoftBank Group Corp said on Wednesday it had hired former LinkedIn Corp executive Deep Nishar as managing director of investments as the Japanese telecoms conglomerate targets growth overseas to counter a shrinking domestic market.
Nishar will be based in San Carlos, California, and report to SoftBank President Nikesh Arora, it said in a statement.
Since 2009, Nishar was responsible for LinkedIn's global product strategy. He was also Google's senior product director for the Asia-Pacific region, the statement added.
SoftBank, which bought US carrier Sprint in 2013, is one of Japan's most acquisitive companies. Last month, it announced a $1 billion investment in South Korean online retailer Coupang, and said it was teaming up with Bharti Enterprises and Taiwan's Foxconn to invest about $20 billion in solar projects in India.