SoftBank COO Marcelo Claure has decided to step down after dispute over compensation, according to media reports.

The exit comes after the New York Times reported last month that Marcelo Claure was seeking about $2 billion in compensation over the next several years, while SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son was looking to pay him a much smaller sum.

Marcelo Claure, who was one of the highest paid executives at the Japanese tech giant after earning a pay package of $17 million in 2020, has been in talks to leave SoftBank for several months and may soon launch his own investment firm, earlier news reports  indicated.

SoftBank Group in a news statement said Marcelo Claure has agreed to part ways after a nine-year partnership.

SoftBank also announced the appointment of Michel Combes as CEO of SoftBank Group International (SBGI). He will oversee SBGI’s operating and investment portfolio.

Marcelo Claure helped lead projects, including the turnaround of Sprint and the T-Mobile-Sprint merger, the repositioning of WeWork, the launch of Latin America’s largest venture capital fund, and the launch of the SB Opportunity Fund to invest in racial minorities.