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MoFo Advises SoftBank as Co-Lead Investor in Record-Breaking OpenAI Fundraise

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Morrison Foerster advised SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank”) as co-lead investor in a new financing round in OpenAI – the world’s...

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Morrison Foerster advised SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank”) as co-lead investor in a new financing round in OpenAI – the world’s leading artificial intelligence research and development company. In addition to SoftBank, other co-lead investors in this round included NVIDIA and Amazon. With investments from co-lead investors totaling $110 billion, this deal represents the largest investment round by a venture-backed startup in history (topping <a href="/resources/news/250331-mofo-advises-softbank-investment-openai" target="_self">SoftBank’s record-breaking financing of OpenAI last year</a>). MoFo’s global deal team was led by Tokyo office managing partner Ken Siegel and San Francisco private equity / venture capital partner Chris McKinnon. The wider team included Aya Eguchi, Lawrence Gallick, Kerry Jones, Jeff Jaeckel, Charles Capito, James Brower, Joseph Benkert, Marie-Claire Strawbridge, Richard Nugent and Dave Sturgeon among other team members across the firm’s offices worldwide. See more in <a href="https://group.softbank/en/news/press/20260227" target="_blank">SoftBank’s press release</a>.

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Ken Siegel is the managing partner of Morrison Foerster’s Tokyo oﬃce and the head of the oﬃce’s 50-attorney M&A team. Ken’s practice focuses on the representation of high-technology companies in acquisitions, joint ventures, and strategic alliances.Ken has been consistently ranked as one of the leading U.S. attorneys in Japan. Among other things, he is the only attorney rated as a “Star Individual” for M&A in Japan (the level above Band 1) by Chambers Global, having been ranked at this level for more than a dozen years (2011–2024 editions). According to Chambers Asia-Paciﬁc, Ken is “commercial and pragmatic, an incredible M&A attorney” who “deserves tremendous credit for his M&A practice” and has “outstanding acumen, experience and leadership.”Ken received the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Award in 2022, recognizing him as one of the most innovative practitioner in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2025, he and his team were recognized again by the Financial Times as Innovative Lawyers in Science and Technology for their groundbreaking AI work on Stargate, a joint venture developing advanced AI infrastructure in the United States. He has also been recognized multiple times as in the American Lawyer – including as “Dealmaker of the Week” for his work on Hitachi’s $5 billion sale of its hard disk-drive business to Western Digital as well as for representing SoftBank in its $21.6 billion acquisition of Sprint, a transaction that was named the Global M&A Deal of the Year by The American Lawyer.Ken received his B.A. magna cum laude from Amherst College. He studied Japanese language at Stanford University’s Inter-University Center for Japanese Language in Tokyo and at the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), receiving a graduate degree in International Aﬀairs. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Chicago Law School.<h4>Select Rankings</h4>Ken’s recent notable awards include:<ul><li>Most Innovative Legal Practitioner in Asia-Pacific (Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Award 2022)</li></ul><ul dir="ltr"><li>Star Individual for Japan: Corporate/M&A (Chambers Global 2024)</li><li dir="ltr">Star Individual for Japan: Corporate/M&A (Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024)</li><li>Hall of Fame for Japan: Corporate and M&A (The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2025)</li><li>Market Leader for Japan: M&A (IFLR1000 2024)</li><li>Corporate, M&A Law, Private Equity, Private Funds and Venture Capital Law [The Best Lawyers in Japan (Recognized since 2009)]</li><li>Foreign Lawyer of the Year (Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2018)</li><li>Tokyo Managing Partner of the Year (Asian Legal Business (ALB) Japan Law Awards 2017)</li></ul>

Kenneth A. Siegel

Partner

Chris represents venture capital investors, private equity firms, and emerging and established companies in corporate finance and securities matters, including venture capital, growth equity and private equity investments, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, restructurings, and other strategic transactions.Chris has significant experience advising on complex deals involving high-growth, venture-backed companies in the technology industry (AI, Fintech, AR/VR, semiconductors, software). For private equity sponsors, he advises on investment fund transactions, buyouts, and divestitures. For entrepreneurs, he advises fast-growing emerging companies throughout their lifecycle, from formation through exit.Before rejoining Morrison Foerster, Chris advised a leading global investment firm, as associate general counsel and legal director, on cross-border investment and M&A transactions. Leveraging that experience, Chris provides clients with creative, business-forward, and solutions-oriented advice.Chris has been recognized as a top-tier advisor by numerous leading publications, including the Financial Times, Venture Capital Journal, San Francisco Business Times, and Daily Journal. He is on the leadership committee of the ABA’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Committee and frequent author and speaker on investment- and M&A-related topics and trends.At NYU School of Law, Chris was a Lederman Fellow in Law & Economics and on the executive board of the NYU Journal of Law & Business. He majored in business economics as an undergraduate at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Christopher McKinnon

Aya Eguchi is a partner in the Technology Transactions Group.  Her practice focuses on transactions and counseling involving intellectual property and technology, with an emphasis on licensing and distribution arrangements, technology development and strategic alliance activities and technology transfers.Ms. Eguchi advises clients on transactional matters involving the acquisition, development, licensing and transfer of intellectual property, including the structuring and negotiating of joint ventures and strategic alliances; development and distribution agreements; software and technology licenses; and intellectual property components of mergers and acquisitions and other corporate transactions. As a native Japanese speaker, Ms. Eguchi has extensive experience working on cross-border transactions with clients from a variety of fields, including companies in the pharmaceutical, life sciences and medical device industries; software, IT and telecommunications companies; and multinational technology conglomerates.  She also provides pro bono legal services to several not-for-profit entities in connection with their commercial and intellectual property-related transactions.Before joining Morrison & Foerster, Ms. Eguchi worked as an IT consultant for a Fortune Global 500 management consulting firm, in Japan, Italy, France and the UK, focusing on strategic counseling for the design, development and implementation of technology solutions.Ms. Eguchi earned her J.D. from Cornell Law School in 2012, where she was a member of the Cornell Law Review.  Ms. Eguchi received her B.S.E. in both Biomedical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Duke University in 2005. Ms. Eguchi is admitted to practice law in the state of California and is a registered patent agent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Aya Eguchi

Lawrence Gallick is a partner in the firm’s Austin office and a member of the Technology Transactions Group.Lawrence focuses his practice on technology transactions and licensing matters. His diverse experience includes advising on SaaS agreements, cross-licensing agreements, research and collaboration agreements, development agreements, and distribution agreements. He counsels a broad range of companies across the software, hardware, life sciences, biotech and FinTech spaces, as well as other entities including universities.He advises clients in connection with general corporate matters including contract negotiations, and leasing and technology placement agreements.In 2023, Lawrence seconded at Amazon Lab126, where he led the negotiation of high-profile licensing deals for a variety of Amazon device teams. The secondment was an immersive opportunity to gain additional insights and experience from the perspective of in-house counsel. Lawrence also serves as co-editor of <a href="https://www.sociallyawareblog.com/" target="_blank">Socially Aware</a>, the firm’s award-winning newsletter and blog devoted to the law and business of social media, and regularly publishes on various IP and technology-related topics.Prior to joining the firm, Lawrence was counsel at another major law firm. Before earning his law degree, Lawrence was a web consultant, project manager, and web developer in Portland, Oregon, where he managed and consulted on projects using industry methodologies and performed custom development and integration of content management systems.Lawrence was named a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” in 2015 and 2018–2022, and is licensed in California, New York, and Texas. Lawrence earned his J.D. from the University at Buffalo School of Law, where he was the electronic systems editor for the Buffalo Law Review and awarded the ABA-BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law.

Lawrence Gallick

Kerry Jones is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group. Her practice includes supporting clients across the spectrum of antitrust and competition law matters, such as strategic counseling to manage antitrust risks, Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger notification filings, gun jumping and merger clearance advocacy, internal investigations, and antitrust litigation. Kerry has experience representing clients across variety of industries, including telecommunications, semiconductors, artificial intelligence, robotics, and life sciences. She has experience representing domestic and multinational companies in federal courts.Kerry received her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served on the editorial board of the Virginia Journal of Law and Politics. Kerry is admitted to practice in Virginia and Washington, D.C.<h4>Representative Experience</h4>Kerry has supported clients in all phases of the antitrust review process including:<ul><li>Sprint Corp. and SoftBank, the controlling shareholder of Sprint, in the landmark $59 billion merger of Sprint and T-Mobile US, Inc. The deal is one of the largest telecommunications deals in history.</li><li>TOPPAN in its $1.8 billion acquisition of Sonoco’s thermoformed and flexibles packaging business</li><li>Sekisui House in its $4.9 billion acquisition of M.D.C. Holdings</li><li>Unity Software in its $4.4 billion acquisition of ironSource</li><li>Palo Alto Networks in its $3.35 billion acquisition of Chronosphere</li><li>SoftBank in its acquisition of Ampere Computing for $6.5 billion</li><li>SoftBank in its $4.4 billion investment in WeWork, and later its $10 billion investment in the company</li><li>SoftBank ) in its $7.7 billion investment in Uber</li><li>Mobileye in its $15.3 billion acquisition by Intel</li><li>Axalta Coating Systems in its purchase of assets divested in connection with the Federal Trade Commission's review of an acquisition in its industry</li><li>Boyd Gaming Corporation in its acquisition of three casinos and in its purchase of assets divested in connection with the Federal Trade Commission’s review of an acquisition in its industry</li><li>ON Semiconductor in its $2.5 billion acquisition of Fairchild Semiconductor</li></ul>

Kerry Jones

Jeff has notable experience representing public and private corporations in connection with their most significant and complicated antitrust litigation in federal and state courts. He regularly represents clients in all antitrust aspects of complicated transactional matters, including strategy and structuring of transactions to avoid antitrust risk and achieve strategic business objectives, and U.S. and multinational merger notification and review. Jeff also represents domestic and international companies in connection with government investigations of conduct, including civil investigations relating to monopolization or criminal investigations of alleged price-fixing. Jeff also assists clients in the protection of their intellectual property and counsels clients on the antitrust ramifications of commercial agreements to capitalize on the value of intellectual property.Jeff represents clients across a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, semiconductors, software, Internet services, transportation, consumer products, telecommunications, and media and entertainment.In addition to his active practice, Jeff served as Morrison Foerster’s Vice Chair from, October 2022-December 2025. Jeff formerly served as co-chair of Morrison Foerster’s Global Antitrust Law Practice Group and as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors, and co-chair of the firm’s eDiscovery Task Force.Jeff serves as an associate editor of the Antitrust Magazine of the American Bar Association Antitrust Section. He graduated with honors and was a member of Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honor society in Economics. He was a writing staff member for the Wisconsin Environmental Law Journal, and was elected to Order of the Coif.

Jeff Jaeckel

Charles Capito is a partner in both Morrison Foerster’s National Security and Government Contracts + Public Procurement practices.In the National Security space, he has significant experience counseling clients on the complex and evolving considerations related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS). Charles frequently helps investors and U.S. businesses through every aspect of the CFIUS process, from understanding and allocating CFIUS risk on the front end, to presenting cases before the Committee, to negotiating appropriate mitigation measures, and ultimately to implementing and complying with mitigation agreements after the fact. Charles’ experience includes securing clearances for some of the largest and most sensitive cases reviewed by CFIUS, as well as dozens of more discreet transactions and investments.Charles regularly advises clients on critical regulatory regimes in the national security space. Whether in the context of specific transactions or day-to-day counseling, clients rely on Charles to help them comply with and operate under U.S. export controls, in particular, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and Export Administration Regulations (EAR). These regimes, especially the EAR, are undergoing noteworthy and complex changes, and now play key roles in other legal regimes like CFIUS. In addition, government contractors with access to classified information and their investors go to Charles to understand their obligations under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP) and, in particular, the sensitive issues presented by foreign ownership, control, or influence (FOCI) in this space.Companies operating in today’s national security space are wise to take a holistic view of the legal environment incorporating not only their legal obligations today, but also the wider geopolitical landscape to plan for the future. Charles speaks and writes regularly on these and other topics in the national security space, and has been recognized by legal publications like Chambers USA and Best Lawyers for his expertise in these areas.Charles is also a seasoned Government Contracts practitioner, assisting government contractors with a wide variety of compliance and litigation issues. This includes the numerous national security issues government contractors face when they are subject to FOCI, manufacture or export defense articles under the ITAR or sensitive dual-use technology under EAR, or are required to understand and comply with recent compliance regimes like Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Charles also has years of experience on pre- and post-award bid protests before the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims, and contracts claims and disputes before the boards of contract appeals, and other judicial and administrative tribunals.  Additionally, he counsels clients on prime- and subcontractor disputes, small business issues, compliance with federal procurement regulations, and government contracts mergers and acquisitions.Charles graduated from Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he served as senior articles editor of the Washington & Lee Law Review. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University.

Charles Capito

James Brower is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Litigation Department, residing in the Washington D.C. office.James has extensive experience advising and representing clients in matters relating to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and other national security-related matters. He has worked across a variety of departments within the U.S. Federal Government, including the Defense Security Service (now the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency) within the Department of Defense and the Office of Investment Security within the Department of the Treasury. James, while with the Department of the Treasury, led the review, assessment, and investigation of over one hundred transactions and spent years handling complex filings, transactions, and policies. He also led CFIUS’s mitigation monitoring efforts and the deployment and implementation of the CFIUS Pilot Program.Directly prior to joining Morrison Foerster, James worked at a global law firm representing clients before CFIUS advising clients on various policies and processes in compliance with federal statutes, and leading engagements with the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency.James received his B.A. in English as well as Government and International Politics from George Mason University, and his J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.

James Brower

Joseph Benkert is a senior advisor in Morrison & Foerster’s National Security practice group. He advises clients on critical national security matters pertaining to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), export controls, and various regulatory and compliance issues.Mr. Benkert previously served as a leading civilian official in the Department of Defense (DoD) from 2003-2009 under both the Bush and Obama administrations, including as Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security Affairs after being nominated by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate.While at the DoD, Mr. Benkert led the department’s involvement in numerous complex matters before CFIUS. He oversaw more than 400 CFIUS cases and represented DoD in CFIUS deliberations determining whether a foreign investment in a U.S. company or its operations represented a national security risk. Mr. Benkert’s responsibilities at DoD also included managing technology security policy, the reform of export control processes, numerous sensitive nonproliferation projects, and a broad range of other defense-related issues. He continues to serve as an advisor on DoD’s Threat Reduction Advisory Committee.More recently, Mr. Benkert served as a Vice President of a leading global consultancy group, under former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. During his tenure, he advised clients on transactional matters that were subject to CFIUS review.Mr. Benkert was a career Navy officer with extensive experience both in operational command and in national security policy formulation and implementation. He was the Executive Director of the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel, an advisory group for the Navy’s senior uniformed leader, and served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy both as a senior military assistant and as the Director of European Policy. His commands included a frigate, a guided missile cruiser, two destroyer squadrons, and operational groups.

Joseph A. Benkert

Senior Advisor, National Security

An antitrust specialist with more than 15 years of experience, Marie-Claire advises clients on merger control and foreign investment aspects of complex global transactions, investigations, abuse of dominance, and complex vertical agreements. Drawing on this expertise, she also chairs the firm’s cross-practice Government Strategies group.She has advised corporate clients and financial investors across a range of sectors including technology, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, energy, retail, healthcare, sports rights and industrials. In addition to coordinating complex multi-jurisdictional advice and delivering EU and other global merger control and foreign investment clearances, she has extensive UK CMA experience, having acted for clients on a number of complex CMA investigations, both at Phase 1 and Phase 2 and having delivered multiple informal CMA clearances. She regularly advises on CMA engagement strategy in global deals.She also regularly counsels clients in relation to compliance across all aspects of competition law, including horizontal and vertical commercial agreements and dominance. She has also represented clients before the EU and UK regulators in relation to both cartels and abuse of dominance as well as in the context of market investigations.Marie-Claire is recognized in each of the annual editions of Who’s Who Legal: Competition – Future Leaders from 2017 to 2024.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Advising Unity Technologies in relation to its $4.4B Acquisition of ironSource</li></ul><ul><li>Advising Nikon Corporation, a globally active Japanese manufacturer of optical technology solutions, in connection with the public takeover of SLM Solutions Group AG, a Lübeck-based manufacturer of metal 3D printers</li><li>Advising SoftBank in Connection with $3.4 Billion Combination of Eutelsat and OneWeb</li><li>Advising Endurance Acquisition Corp in connection with its investment in Satixfy</li><li>Advising a major record label in relation to a CMA market study into music streaming</li><li>Advising a major energy company and fund manager, active in retail, generation and fund management in relation to the merger control and foreign investment aspects of strategic investment</li><li>Advising a global software company in relation to a CMA merger control investigation into its acquisition of a key competitor</li><li>Advising a UK grocery retailer in relation to a CMA investigation into a failed merger between two of the four major UK grocery retailers</li><li>Advising a consortium of financial investors on the global merger control and UK and foreign public interest aspects of a takeover of UK-based satellite telecommunications company</li></ul>

Marie-Claire Strawbridge

Richard Nugent is a partner in the firm’s New York office and chair of its Tax practice.Richard has over 25 years of experience advising on the tax aspects of complex transactions including public and private M&A, spin-offs, joint ventures, internal restructurings, and financings and capital markets transactions. He also advises debtors and creditors within and outside of bankruptcy.Richard has been recognized in Chambers USA, where he is praised as “an extremely knowledgeable and dedicated attorney” and “well-versed in communicating complex issues.” The Legal 500 describes Richard as having a “deep understanding of the business, including product supply, marketing, and distribution” which clients describe as “priceless when representing us in deal matters.” Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Richard was a tax partner at another international law firm in New York. He serves on the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Tax Section and is a member of the Tax Forum. A sought-after speaker, Richard frequently presents on tax topics for Practising Law Institute programs.Richard holds an LL.M. with distinction from Georgetown University, a J.D. with honors from Rutgers School of Law – Newark, and a B.A., summa cum laude, from Saint Peter’s University. He also served as a law clerk to Judge Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit and Judge Robert P. Ruwe of the U.S. Tax Court.<h4>Representative Experience</h4><ul><li>Represented Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in $238 million public offering of common stock</li><li>Represented Paine Schwartz Partners, a global leader in sustainable food chain investing, in its investment in Chex Finer Foods, a value-added specialty food distributor</li><li>Represented the board of Continental Disc Corporation, a portfolio company of Tinicum, in connection to its sale to Baker Hughes, an energy technology company</li><li>Represented Hooter’s Inc. and Hoot Owl Restaurants, L.L.C. in the acquisition of over 100 restaurants from Hooters of America LLC, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on March 31st in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court</li><li>Represented Centuri Holdings and parent company Southwest Gas Holdings in $353 million IPO and concurrent private placement</li><li>Represented C2 Capital Partners in its investment in Stella & Chewy’s, a leading North American pet food manufacturer</li></ul>

Richard Nugent

Chair of the Tax Practice

David Sturgeon is a partner in Morrison Foerster’s Federal Tax practice.Dave advises clients on a broad range of complex business transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs and other divestitures, as well as financings, refinancings, restructurings and other business transactions.He earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was a member of the Chicago Journal of International Law, and received his Master of Laws in taxation from New York University School of Law.Prior to joining Morrison Foerster, Dave was an associate at a law firm in New York, where he represented public companies, financial institutions, private equity clients and other sponsor entities across industries in an extensive range of business transactions.