SoftBank posts a $21.6 billion quarterly loss on its Vision Fund, one of the highest in its history - CNBC

SoftBank posted one of its biggest losses at its Vision Fund investment unit for its fiscal first quarter, as technology stocks continue to get hammered amid rising interest rates.

The Japanese giant's Vision Fund posted a 2.93 trillion Japanese yen ($21.68 billion) loss for the June quarter.

SoftBank's Vision Fund, which began in 2017 and invests in technology companies, has been hit by a slump in high-growth stocks as a result of rampant inflation that has led the U.S.

Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's outspoken founder and the mastermind behind the Vision Fund, said in May the company would go into "defense" mode and be more "conservative" with the pace of investments after posting a record 3.5 trillion Japanese yen loss at the investment unit for the last fiscal year.

SoftBank said it saw a decline in the share prices of a wide range of its portfolio companies, which was "mainly caused by the global downward trend in share prices due to growing concerns over economic recession driven by inflation and rising interest rates.".

SoftBank said the share prices of private companies in its portfolio also declined.

However, given the troubles at SoftBank's investment unit, Son said that the headcount at the Vision Fund may need to be "reduced dramatically." The CEO said that "cost reduction" will need to be done at the SoftBank group level too across different units?