SoftBanks Masayoshi Son appeared to fall asleep on stage at a conference

The leader of Japanese investor SoftBank is probably exhausted by the dramatic WeWork controversy, and that might explain why he seemed to fall asleep while on stage at a conference this week.

Masayoshi Son spoke in a panel on technical investment on Tuesday at. the Future Investment Initiative conference, called "Davos in the Desert", held in Saudi Arabia. The conference was streamed live on YouTube and includes footage from Son's panel, which Bloomberg reports drew almost no participants.

It looks like Son wasn't very excited either, as discovered by a Twitter user . It's not clear when Son exactly started nodding off, but he seems to quit when the live stream first cuts a wide shot showing Son between the panel moderator and CEO Robert Smith, who is in the middle answering a question. The video is then cut to a closer shot that only shows Smith and Son, where it is clear that Sona's eyes are closed.

You might argue that Son doesn't necessarily sleep ̵[ads1]1; just "rest" his eyes, as my grandfather would say – but that argument is not so good considering what's going on. After about 25 seconds of sitting there with his eyes closed, the Son's head falls down and he seems to wake from his sleep. Son then blinks a few times and turns to face the talking panelist.

It's been a wild couple of months for Son when he saw WeWork weather the storm after his IPO tailspin (SoftBank has invested nearly $ 20 billion in WeWork over the years). First, Son led the pressure to remove former WeWork CEO Adam Neumann after the company's IPO failed. Son then controlled SoftBank's acquisition of WeWork, where the Japanese company took 80% control of the company. Neumann left the board in exchange for $ 1.7 billion.

In addition, Son & # 39; s presence at the Saudi Arabia Annual Investment Conference this week is controversial in itself. Son, as well as dozens of companies and executives, boycotted the summit last year following the brutal killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and Saudi Arabia's ties to his killing. Son and other leaders, however, returned in great numbers to the summit this year.

You can see the whole moment when Son seems to fall asleep to yourself thanks to the recording of the YouTube conference. Start With Mark 4:20:16: