SoftBank’s big money hits hard downstream

Through its $100 billion Vision Fund, the Japanese tech giant SoftBank has poured cash into fledgling companies that dangled incentives and other payments to attract armies of contractors to deliver services.

But when the start-ups stumbled, they often slashed or reneged on the incentives. Many contractors have been financially and personally devastated.

In essence, the Vision Fund’s formidable torrent of cash is creating a distinctly modern version of the bait-and-switch.

How we know: The Times reviewed contracts and internal company documents, and interviewed dozens of workers with SoftBank-funded start-ups like Oyo and the delivery firm Rappi in places like Chicago, New Delhi, Beijing and Bogotá, Colombia.