Here’s why Uber’s Kalanick should fear Softbank founder Masayoshi Son

It’s not been a year that Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing secured funding of almost $3 billion, and it is on the verge of raising another $5 billion, says a Bloomberg report.

This means that Japan-based SoftBank Group Corp is investing into Didi with a strategy in mind. It was Masayoshi Son, the 59-year old founder of Softbank, who encouraged Didi CEO Cheng Wei to take more capital, in order to be sure that new opportunities would not be let go of because capital constraints.

In the past, Son has convinced the Saudi Arabian government to fund $45 billion in SoftBank Vision Fund, something that a layman would consider nothing more than a simple vision for the future.

The person who should be worried with Son’s pace in investing in Didi is Travis Kalanick, the 40-year-old founder of Uber. He has already taken an exit from China, and was all set to defeat Lyft Inc. in the United States. However, a list of management sins later, his position doesn’t look quite good.

Also read: All of Uber's problems can be boiled down to a single, simple word

Didi, on the other hand, has been signing deals around the world under the leadership of CEO Cheng and President Jean Liu. It has most recently signed a deal that would allow Didi users to directly access Chinese bike-rental company Ofo Inc.

Son probably likes the collaborative approach that Didi has undertaken, thus finding himself prepared for Didi’s plans for global expansion and driverless cars.

Uber, which is anyway unprofitable company, has been in a cash-burning battle with Lyft. Given the fact that Kalanick likes to operate alone, while Didi believes in cooperations, Uber would be in a continuous need of funding from VCs.

Didi, however, enjoys continuous support from a man who has $100 billion with him, and a century-long vision.

Fair fight, what do you think?