Hiroshi Mikitani, whose Rakuten Group Inc. is losing billions of dollars to break into Japan’s wireless market, said he’s devoting a fifth of his time to a US-based biotech startup for cancer treatments, describing it as “a social project” where profitability isn’t a top priority.

“I don’t think there’s a problem with the use of my time,” Mikitani said in an interview in Yokohama, Japan, where he spoke at conference held by the American Society of Clinical Oncology last week. “I probably work three times as much as other people. My role is to make decisions and make action plans; it’s not about time.”

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Rakuten’s Mikitani Spends a Fifth of His Time on Biotech Startup