尼克什•阿羅拉 新晉的軟銀集團狠角色

Sitting in a conference room seven years ago, Masayoshi Son was immediately drawn to the sharp-minded executive across the negotiating table. The billionaire telecoms tycoon needed a new technology partner for Yahoo Japan, the internet search engine in which his SoftBank group owns a big stake. Nikesh Arora was sceptical of the tie-up, but the then Google executive was also intrigued by Mr Son, who told him: “Let’s try!”

7年前，孫正義(Masayoshi Son)坐在一間會議室裏，很快就爲談判桌對面那位思維敏銳的高管所吸引。當時這位電信行業的億萬富豪正在爲雅虎日本(Yahoo Japan)尋找新的技術合作夥伴，他的軟銀集團(SoftBank)擁有該互聯網搜索引擎的大量股權。時任谷歌(Google)高管的尼克什•阿羅拉(Nikesh Arora)雖對合作提議有所懷疑，但他同樣被孫正義激起了興趣，後者對他說：“咱們試試看！”

Since that first encounter in 2008, the two men have become inseparable. “We’re so close it’s a bit crazy,” Mr Son says. Last year SoftBank poached Mr Arora, Google’s highest-paid executive, with a financial package generous enough to convince him to leave behind annual pay of about $50m at the world’s most powerful internet company.

自從2008年這次初遇之後，兩人漸漸變得形影不離。孫正義說：“我們親近到了有點狂熱的地步。”去年軟銀以豐厚的薪資挖走了阿羅拉，軟銀開出的福利之慷慨，足以說服這位谷歌收入最高的高管，放棄他在全球最強大的互聯網公司大約5000萬美元的年薪。

Their business partnership became even more tightly woven on Monday, when the SoftBank founder announced that he had selected his new recruit as the “top candidate” to succeed him. Mr Arora, who as vice-chairman has led the group’s investments, will be promoted to president next month, second only to Mr Son, who stays as chief executive.

軟銀創始人孫正義已宣佈選定這位新成員爲接任自己的“頭號人選”，二人的商業夥伴關係因此變得更爲緊密。阿羅拉目前任軟銀副董事長，負責投資事務，6月他將晉升集團總裁，職位僅低於孫正義。軟銀首席執行官仍由孫正義擔任。

The switch to SoftBank was a daring move for Mr Arora, who was seen as the fourth most important executive at Google after co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and executive chairman Eric Schmidt. Mr Arora compares Mr Son to the two Google founders, saying he has “one of the most brilliant minds”.

對於阿羅拉而言，跳槽到軟銀是一個大膽舉動，他曾被視作谷歌最重要的高管之一，排名僅次於聯合創始人謝爾蓋•布林(Sergey Brin)和拉里•佩吉(Larry Page)，以及執行董事長埃裏克•施密特(Eric Schmidt)三人。阿羅拉將孫正義與谷歌的兩位創始人相提並論，稱他擁有“最聰明的大腦之一”。

Still, Google’s market capitalisation $370bn makes it five times more valuable than SoftBank. And running a company as a foreigner is a challenge in a country where long-time company insiders often rise to the top.

話雖如此，谷歌的市值高達3700億美元，是軟銀的5倍。而且對於外國人來說，在日本管理一家企業是很大的挑戰，因爲在該國登上總裁之位的往往是資深的公司內部人士。

For India-born Mr Arora, though, the culture barrier may not be a big factor. At 21, he moved to the US with two suitcases and $100. “The thing I feel most proud of is that I went to business school for two years in a culture I didn’t understand,” he told the Financial Times in 2008. “That to me was a significant achievement because that tells me I can adapt to different environments.”

不過對於印度出生的阿羅拉來說，文化障礙可能不是一個大問題。21歲時，阿羅拉身揣100美元，拎着兩個手提箱來到美國。他在2008年對英國《金融時報》表示：“我最引以爲豪的事就是，我在一個陌生的文化環境裏上了兩年商學院。這件事對我來說是一個了不起的成就，因爲它讓我知道，我能適應不同的環境。”

After receiving his MBA from Northeastern University in Massachusetts, Mr Arora spent the next seven years at Fidelity and Putnam Investments, covering the booming telecoms industry in the 1990s. By the end of the decade he had moved to T-Mobile, where he became chief marketing officer.

在馬薩諸塞州的東北大學(Northeastern University)獲得MBA學位後，阿羅拉在富達投資(Fidelity Investments)和百能投資(Putnam Investments)一共工作了7年，親身經歷了電信行業在上世紀90年代的蓬勃發展。90年代末，他進入T-Mobile併成爲首席營銷官。

After joining Google in 2004, he was put in charge of its European operations in London. There he created a single continental unit that reported directly to him, and became highly profitable. However, before moving to California in 2007 to lead Google’s global sales team, he split the European business in two. Part of his motive, two former colleagues say, was to ensure there would be no powerful successor who could challenge his authority from afar.

2004年他加入谷歌，在倫敦主管歐洲業務。他在倫敦創建了獨立的歐洲業務板塊，直接向他本人彙報，並使其成爲了一個高盈利部門。然而，2007年調任美國加州主管谷歌全球銷售團隊前，他將歐洲業務一分爲二。兩名前同事說，阿羅拉做出此舉的一部分動機是確保不會有強大的繼任者挑戰身在遠方的他的權威。

A deft fighter of internal politics he may be, but one subordinate recalls him as a compassionate boss, who was quick to suggest taking off as much time as he needed when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. “For the big man to say, ‘you decide if you want to work’, that’s not a cold person,” insists the former Google executive. “He was there for us when the chips were down.”

他或許是一個精於企業內鬥的高手，但一位下屬回憶稱，阿羅拉是一名富有同情心的老闆。在這名員工的妻子診斷出癌症後，阿羅拉很快就建議他需要請多少假就請多少假。“如果一個大人物說，‘你來決定是否想要工作’，他就不是一個冷血的人，”這名谷歌前高管說，“關鍵時刻他和我們在一起。”

People who know Mr Arora say he is driven by global ambitions, a trait he shares withMr Son, who already has a 300-year plan to keep SoftBank growing. At times, Mr Arora speaks so fast — “like a machine gun” — that people struggle to follow his thoughts.

瞭解阿羅拉的人說，阿羅拉懷着一種全球性抱負，孫正義身上也有這種特質，孫正義已爲軟銀的持續發展提出了一個300年的計劃。有時候，阿羅拉的語速很快——“像機關槍一樣”——讓人們難以理解他的想法。

“He’s got one of the best BS detectors I’ve ever seen,” said Paroma Roy Chowdhury, Softbank’s vice-president of public affairs, who previously worked under Mr Arora for six years at Google. “It takes time to earn his trust, once you earn it it’s implicit.”

“他是我迄今見過的人中最會辨別空話假話的人之一，”軟銀負責公共事務的副總裁帕羅馬•羅伊•喬杜裏(Paroma Roy Chowdhury)說，在谷歌期間，他在阿羅拉手下工作了6年。“要贏得他的信任需要時間，不過一旦你贏得了他的信任，他就會完全信任你。”

The 57-year-old Mr Son will not be retiring soon. But he will be turning to his anointed successor, who is both tech savvy and 10 years his junior, as SoftBank aims to transform itself into a global powerhouse by boosting internet-related acquisitions. “I had few people I could actively talk to inside my company about my crazy ideas on internet investments,” Mr Son said. “It’s really great to have someone I can trust who will debate with me.”

57歲的孫正義不會在短時間內退休。然而，軟銀計劃通過在互聯網相關領域大事收購將自身打造成一個全球巨頭，孫正義將會倚重他欽定的這位接班人。阿羅拉不僅精通技術，還比他年輕10歲。“在公司內部，我找不到幾個人能夠一起積極地討論我在互聯網投資方面的瘋狂想法，”孫正義說，“有個值得信任的人與我討論真是太好了。”

Another person Mr Arora will be debating with is Marcelo Claure, chief executive of Sprint, the lossmaking wireless network that is America’s third-largest, which SoftBank acquired for $22bn in 2013. People close to Mr Arora say he already offers advice on internet-related topics and marketing strategy.

另一個要與阿羅拉討論的人是Sprint的首席執行官馬塞洛•克勞爾(Marcelo Claure)。Sprint是美國第三大無線網絡公司，目前面臨虧損，軟銀2013年斥資220億美元收購了Sprint。接近阿羅拉的人稱他已就互聯網相關話題和營銷策略提供建議。

Friends and colleagues describe Mr Arora as a consummate networker. Last year, he married Ayesha Thapar, a scion of the Thapar family, an Indian business dynasty. The multi-day affair in Puglia in southern Italy was attended by leaders in the American tech and Indian corporate worlds, as well as Hollywood actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.

阿羅拉的朋友和同事稱阿羅拉非常善於建立人脈。去年，他與印度商界世家撒帕爾家族的阿耶莎•撒帕爾(Ayesha Thapar)結婚。持續多日的婚禮在意大利南部的普利亞(Pulia)舉行，參加婚禮的既有美國科技業和印度企業界的領軍人物，也有好萊塢明星艾什頓•庫徹(Ashton Kutcher)和米拉•庫妮絲(Mila Kunis)。

But Ms Roy Chowdhury says that he retains a strong connection to his homeland. “Even when he was at Google, his sense of India never wavered,” she said. “He loves Indian food, he’s a cricket buff, he follows Bollywood.”

但阿羅拉的妻子說，阿羅拉依然牽掛着家鄉。“即使他身在谷歌，他對印度的關心也從未減弱，”她說，“他喜歡印度食物，他是板球愛好者，他還看寶萊塢電影。”

One catch to dealing with Mr Son is the crazy hours. People who work closely with him say they need to be ready to pick up his call 24 hours a day.

和孫正義共事的一個困難之處是要忍受瘋狂的工作時間。與孫正義密切合作的人說他們需要準備好在一天24小時的任何時間點接到孫正義的電話。

It helps, then, that former colleagues say Mr Arora also has an insatiable work ethic, distracted only by rounds of golf and relentlessly updating cricket scores on his mobile phone. “My wife doesn’t mind [Mr Son] calling me before he goes to sleep and wakes up,” Mr Arora said.

不過阿羅拉的前同事說阿羅拉也是一個不知疲倦的工作狂，只有打高爾夫球和不斷更新手機上的板球比分才能讓他分心。“我妻子不介意（孫正義）在睡覺前和起牀後打電話給我，”阿羅拉說。

The writers are respectively the FT’s Tokyo and technology correspondents

本文作者分別是英國《金融時報》東京記者和科技記者