[88] By February 2023, this personal debt totaled $5.1 billion according to Bloomberg calculations based on company disclosures. The. It was clear if you spent an hour a day with him that his mind was all on business, Mozer says. He didnt know any electronics, but it was clear from the very beginning that he was an entrepreneurial genius, Mozer says about Son. . He is the founder of SoftBank. Here's What Comes Next", https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-23/softbank-s-23-billion-loss-looks-like-more-wework-fun, "Masayoshi Son owes $4.7bn to SoftBank following tech rout", "Masayoshi Son Now Owes SoftBank $5.1 Billion on Side Deals", "Masayoshi Son, SoftBank's worried visionary", "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son, the 'crazy guy who bet on the future", "10 Things You Didn't Know About Masayoshi Son", "Serial Entrepreneur Taizo Son Finds A Welcoming Laboratory For His High-Tech Ideas", "Softbank's Son pledges 120 million salary for quake relief", "Masayoshi Son: The CEO who lost $70bn in a day before conquering the world", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Masayoshi_Son&oldid=1141670169, UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Japanese-language text, Articles containing potentially dated statements from December 2022, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 February 2023, at 05:52. He is the Chairman of the UK-based Arm Holdings. Son claimed he would make personal connections with the CEOs of all companies funded by Vision Fund in order to enhance the creation of intertwined synergies among those companies. Apply for our private membership with exclusive events and benefits for industry leaders. SoftBank owns stakes in more than 1,000 companies, including Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, according to. Feb. 10, 2022 For the past decade, SoftBank and its founder, Masayoshi Son, grabbed headlines mainly for the Japanese conglomerate's eye-popping investments, becoming a fixture in the American. A Biography of Masayoshi Son. Masayoshi Son, the chief executive of Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank, said to shareholders on Wednesday that he wants to be viewed as a 21 st century Rothschild. Reaching him requires driving into a leafy enclave filled with mansions overlooking Palo Alto before passing through a gated entrance into a sprawling compound where waiting attendants escort you inside. under which this service is provided to you. For three minutes, Son, Its persistence like this thats helped the young fan become the most influential player in Indias startup ecosystem. Heres this young, little kid coming into my office with a business plan that really made a lot of sense. Related by financial asset: SoftBank Group Corp. Related by origin of wealth: internet, telecom, Related by education: University of California, Berkeley. Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Son is also remarkably comfortable taking large, risky bets, and has a keen eye for the future. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. He marveled at how Son was able to discuss ideas that were multi-decades out before going back to specific customers and industry details in the present. Son is best known for his investment company Softbank. Masayoshi Son is a Korean-Japanese multibillionaire technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who was born on August 11th, 1957. In what could be seen as a precursor to its activities today, SoftBank pumped billions into hundreds of internet startups. At first, he made an electric translater and sold it to a Japanese MNC Sharp Corporation for $1.7 million. [25], He began his first business endeavours while still a student. While Son didnt have a formal education in engineering or technology, he appeared to intuitively undersand how to sell it. Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, whose net worth rests over $15 billion, discreetly snapped up the. To achieve that grandiose goal, Son continues pursuing bold, almost brash, deals designed to keep SoftBank at the center of any trend he believes will fundamentally shape world. [45], Established in 2017, SoftBank Group's investment vehicle, the $100 billion Vision Fund, was intended to invest in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and the internet of things. Sprint owner Masayoshi Son reportedly buys house in Kansas City area The Kansas City Star Updated November 01, 2015 7:47 PM Masayoshi Son File photo by SHANE KEYSER skeyser@kcstar.com Sprint. A grandson of South Korean immigrants to Japan, Son founded SoftBank in 1981 as a distributor of computer software. Its launched a $100 billion Vision Fund, through which it aims to steer the course of technological development for the planet. He is a man of few words, Aron says. Apart from owning Softbank and mobiles, he is also the chairman of UKs Arm holdings. Son, who. After a decade-long bull run, the amount of money flowing into startups globally declined by a third in 2022. Masayoshi Son is the billionaire founder and CEO of SoftBank, Asia's leading tech conglomerate with interests in telecom, internet, e-commerce, online gaming, broadband, media, etc. About To hand over UK chip designer Arm Limited for $ 40 billion. Within a year, Softbank was already diversifying in 1982, itentered the publishing business, launching two monthly magazines about PCs and software. When the dotcom bubble swelled in 2000, he had a net worth of an estimated $76 billion. BB and BB Phone. Mozer patented the device, and together they made $1 million (in todays money) selling their invention to Sharp. That could be seen as more of a commitment to overhauling the struggling carrier. He is known as the third generation of Zainichi Korean. John Cable, better known by his Japanese name Masayoshi (Japanese: Masayoshi ), is an American variety Twitch streamer of Japanese, Italian, and German descent known for having great haircuts. [citation needed], Son attended the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the richest men in Japan. Uber is believed to be pursuing a secondary stock sale at a $62 billion valuation-- with plans to go publicnext year. Eric Gundersen, the CEO of the open source mapping startup Mapbox, says Son didnt even mention maps during a discussion that led to Vision Fund leading a $164 million investment round. Masayoshi Son, the tech tycoon who has spent billions of Saudi money, is staying away from the kingdom's major investment summit this week. Armed with Alibabas returns, Softbank is now redoubling its efforts into investing in startups around the world. 12. Son started studying English and computer science. SoftBanks investment vehicle, the $100 billion Vision Fund, invests in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and robotics as well as companies aimed at revolutionizing industries such as real estate, transportation, and retail. . He lost billions in the dot-com bust, but sinking $20 million intoAlibaba in 2000 helped revive his fortune. He called it his cluster of number one strategy -- investing in unicorns that are, or could be, the number one players in the market.. Largest annual gathering of API luminaries and leaders to celebrate the A100 List. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty Images Alibaba has suffered a crisis of confidence in recent months as it faces scrutiny from. Masayoshi believed that Computer technology will bring the next revolution in the world. In spite of his successes, Son didnt stay back in the US. Privacy Policy. Japan's second richest man and founder of Softbank is the owner of this Woodside, California home costing approximately $115 million. in 1995 and investing a $20 million stake into Alibaba in 1999; he was briefly the richest person in the world before the stock market crashed. This third-generation Zainichi Korean is also famous for his philanthropic work. More than a decade after the Dot Com bubble burst, SoftBank reaped the financial rewards of the early Alibaba deal. 2017 Cable News Network. I walk into this immaculate and impressive home and manage to almost break a chandelier.. He is widely reported to have seen his paper wealth fall by $70 billion in 2000. The American Music Fairness Act has been reintroduced in the Senate and House of Representatives, marking a momentous day for #musicfairness. Son was a 3rd generation "Zainichi Korean," he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. Now, they live in a mansion worth $ 50 million. Later, he studied B.A. Son came up with the idea to use the synthesizer astranslator that would pronounce the word that you were trying to translate, and could be sold at airports. Near the top of that list is WeWork, an eight-year-oldstartup that provides trendycoworking spaces in 80cities worldwide. It made him inclined toward technology and he later became a tech entrepreneur and an investor. Yahoo founder Jerry Yang replied that they didn't need that much. After attending two years of high school, he ended upstudyingEconomics at UC Berkley. In March 2018, Son took his hand in the solar project development plan for Saudia Arabia. [30], Son was an early investor in internet firms, buying a share of Yahoo! It was just tall enough, it turned out, to whack one of the chandeliers. All of this aside, Son faces a deeper question: Can he invest in enough winners to generate the kind of returns that make his $100 billion experiment worthwhile for investors? [23] His father raised pigs and chickens on that land, and started an illegal sake business that eventually became successful enough for his family to become the first people in town to own a car. Masayoshi Son, chairman of Sprint and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., recently bought a house near Sprints headquarters, a move seen as a commitment to overhaul the struggling carrier. By his own account, Son is laying the foundation for a company, and, by extension, a personal legacy, that endures for centuries. But by 2021, he was still struggling to persuade investors of the value of his efforts, in part because of fiascoes and troublesome losses with companies such as WeWork, OneWeb, Wirecard,[70] OYO Rooms, Katerra[71] or Greensill Capital, and SoftBank Group's own stock chronically traded far below the value of its assets reflecting a discount[72] associated to tax liabilities, risk, past performance, losses, performance fees and high probability of occurrence of several haircuts given Sons poor track record while running the Vision Fund[73] and high enthusiasm for investing vast sums in loss-making companies at eye-popping valuations. Japan in which he still owned a controlling interest. In the same year, Softbank signed an agreement with Nvidia. Softbankbecame the primary shareholder in Yahoo, and set up Yahoo Japan, its Japanese subsidiary. Select from premium India Media Murdoch of the highest quality. [23], Son pursued his interests in business by securing a meeting with Japan McDonald's president Den Fujita. Before the crash, he had a net worth of $78 billion, but lost it all overnight, losing $70 billion in one fateful day. Masayoshi Son is a Japan-based Millionaire, a tech entrepreneur, and an investor. As per the Bloomberg billionaire index, Sons net worth is around $23.1 billion. Masayoshi Son is a famous Japanese entrepreneur, philanthropist, investor, and billionaire. In 1995, Son. Masayoshi is the 74 th wealthiest person in the world and 3 rd richest person in Japan. It invested $2.5 billion in Flipkart, Indias leading online retailer, in 2017. Youre seeing him own the infrastructure for the future., SoftBank takes on Apple and Samsung with new payment app, GM and Softbank are putting $3 billion into self-driving cars, SoftBank CEO gives up control to make Sprint's merger with T-Mobile happen, SoftBank wants to build the world's biggest solar project in Saudi Arabia. Son also owns the title of chairman of UK-based ARM Holdings. Sprint's principal owner and chairman, Masayoshi Son, has bought a house in Mission Hills near the home of chief executive Marcelo Claure, who hailed the purchase as a show of confidence.. Masayoshi Sons Softbank had invested in Snapdeal in 2013, but the investment didnt quite pay off. Find India Media Murdoch stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. His second business idea was to import second-hand Japanese video game and install it in dormitories and restaurants. I survived.. Japan Corporation and Alibaba Group Holding Limited and as the chairman of Arm Limited. By the late 90s, Son had invested in several tech companies, includingKozmo.com,More.com, SportsBrain and even Webvan. This neo-classical home is spread over 9,000 square feet, and includes a swimming pool, tennis court, and an attached library. You can keep on working, whatever youre doing. The billionaire said many . Snapdeal was floundering at the beginning of this year, but Son was adamant on winning a slice of Indias lucrative e-commerce pie. Talent often has to be nurtured and honed, and so the best place to find talent may be within your current workforce. He effortlessly straddles the Japanese and Western business worlds, a quality that stood him in good stead while making business deals with his foreign counterparts. [20] However, after he returned to Japan, Son decided to use his family's original Korean surname[28][23] instead. He owns the SoftBank Hawks, a professional Japanese baseball team. Son likes to say he is preparing for the day when all sectors of society and industry will be redefined by super-intelligent machines. Based on over twenty years of in-depth interviews and study, Atsuo Inoue brings Son's story to life in this . What has led to Sons sustained success? On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. However, after a number of high-profile setbacks, Son's investing strategy in the first and second SoftBank Vision Funds established in 2017 and 2019, has been described as one reliant on the greater fool theory. He lives in Tokyo in a three-story mansion that is valued at $50 million and that has a golf range with technology to mimic the weather conditions and temperature of the world's top golf courses. Son at a 2016 press conference/Getty Images. stake soon dropped to 7%, Softbank made benefited from Yahoo broadband which was released in September 2001. Under Sons guidance, the Japanese conglomerate, which he founded in 1981, has repeatedly shaken up entire industries with blockbuster acquisitions of companies like Sprint and prescient investments in startups like Alibaba. Rival venture capitalists complain that Son and his immense VC fund wield an unprecedented ability to inflate startup valuations and pressure companies to take money they may not need -- or want. [50] But the amount was scaled down due to lack of investing partners beyond Softbank Group itself and Masayoshi Son. Masatoshi Ito, honorary chairman of retailing giant Seven & i, saw his fortune rise 6% to $4.35 billion as the group mulls selling department stores. He often quotes Yoda, passionately prepares for the singularity, and has been known to make big bets on companies based upon what he once called his sense of smell. He plays an active role in SoftBanks investment decisions, and Aron recalled being told that Son has final say on each Vision Fund deal. There's a $60 billion reason why SoftBank Group Corp. founder Masayoshi Son might feel a little down. You dont have to look at me. Updated: 16 Mar 2022, 02:35 PM IST Bloomberg. [43] In March 2018, it was announced that Son was investing in the biggest ever solar project, a 200GW development planned for Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030. Taking his advice, Son began studying English and computer science. Sonbet $374 million on Yahoo between 1995 and 1998, and at its peak, his investment had led to a 50-fold gain. We celebrate and spotlight API achievements across industries through our unique and original awards and events. The Wall Street Journal reports that Son, chairman of Sprint and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., has purchased a house in the Kansas City area. So far, SoftBank has accumulated about $1.3 billion in debt. Not far from the storied venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road, theres a palatial estate where Masayoshi Son, Silicon Valleys newest kingmaker, shapes the future. Son was a child when his Korean parents moved to Japan, and he grew up poor. He has also bought a home near Silicon Valley in Woodside, California, that cost him $117 million. In July 2016, Softbank purchased a European technology company- Arm Holdings. The price of the acquisition was around $ 34 billion. 20ms. Multiple investors said startups may feel pressure to accept SoftBanks funding regardless of whether they want it, simply to prevent SoftBank from handing that money to a rival and upending the market. After gorging on a record 183 deals last year, Masayoshi Sons SoftBank has come down to earth amid deteriorating economic conditions that have erased billions of dollars from the valuations of technology startups. When the Chinese e-commerce company went public in 2014, SoftBanks $20 million investment was worth nearly $75 billion. [44], In July 2018, coverage indicated that Son "would underwrite most of 100 GW" of a planned 275 GW of new renewable provision in India by 2027. Masayoshi Sons Softbank had invested in Snapdeal in 2013, but the investment didnt quite pay off. His company has shed more market value in the past . Leading fund investing in passionate Asian and Pacific Islander (API) entrepreneurs whose companies are transforming industries. Sons investment company Softbank owns 29.5% stake in Alibaba which worth $ 108.7 billion in 2018. [21] In 2019, a second Vision Fund was created with a target of $108 billion, of which $38 billion would come from Softbank itself. Masayoshi Son Date of birth: August 11, 1957 Masayoshi Son founded SOFTBANK Corp. Japan (currently SoftBank Group Corp.) in 1981 and has continued to serve as its chairman & CEO. He will just shake hands and thats it.. SoftBanks C.E.O. I went home and told my wife that I just met this guy who is going to own Japan someday. All rights reserved. Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire renowned for his interest in emerging technology companies. In his attempt to make up for SoftBank Group Corp.'s record 3.16 trillion yen ($23.4 billion) net loss this quarter, Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son offered two gifts to investors. MASAYOSHI SON: "In my home in my basement I have a computer-simulated course. He was born in 1957 in Japan, the son of Korean immigrants. Son has always had a penchant for making deals. Son, who lives in Japan and is also the CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., doesnt plan to move into the house full time, said people familiar with the matter. Investors in Son's Vision Funds include Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn, the family office of billionaire Larry Ellison and Saudi Arabia's sovereign fund. It has been a tough year for Japans SoftBank and its CEO Masayoshi Son, but some of their new fintech investments may just pay off. The Journal report, which cited people familiar with the matter, was confusing geographically. It helps that hes a Japanese businessman who breaks the mould thanks to his education at Berkley, he speaks English, and shakes hands instead of bowing. 30 photos Located at 6405 Wenonga Road in Mission Hills, Kan., the 12,360-square-foot home includes 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a custom kitchen, giant wine cellar, spa facilities and a master bedroom. He booked a ticket to Tokyo and landed up at Fujitas office. Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp. (Bloomberg) Just last year, SoftBank was flying high, borrowing against . [24], He left to study in the U.S. on the advice of Den Fujita. Home For You The Morning Edition Saved . During that conversation, Gundersen experienced first-hand what its like to engage with a CEO and investor who thinks on a 300-year timetable. and Alibaba, of which SoftBank reportedly owns nearly 30%. Expert cultural consultation and services to ensure authentic storytelling. His League of Legends live gaming streams, Valorant plays and Super Mario 64 speedruns with his own commentary have helped him garner massive popularity. Masayoshi Son I'm the king of debt. It sold in 2012 for $117 million to SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son. The dotcom bubble exploded and affected businesses across the world. It Also Has an Undervalued Stock", "Softbank Group shares slide 3% after Didi, Arm, Grab triple setback", "SoftBank Is Cutting More Deals With Fewer Staff Than Ever (1)", "SoftBank cuts 15% of jobs from Vision Fund arm", "SoftBank Vision Fund posts record $27 billion loss as tech stocks plummet", "Klarna's Slashed Valuation Creates Losers and a Few Winners", "SoftBank CEO 'ashamed' of pride in past profits as record losses prompt cost cuts", "SoftBank suffers as Son's bets on China tech backfire", "The SoftBank Experiment Has Failed. 9,452 stories Tesla Inc. 7,811 stories US Federal Reserve. Investors in Son's Vision Funds include Apple, Qualcomm, Foxconn, the family office of billionaire Larry. I have Augusta, Pebble Beach while I can hit the ball with my drivers and irons to the computer-simulated course on the screen. Sprint in Overland Park declined to comment to a question from The Star seeking to verify the Journals report. Well, it certainly didnt have the budget or the IP behind it, but that hasnt stopped Sons of the Forest from rocketing to fame and becoming the second-biggest game of the year on Steam, behind only Hogwarts Legacy itself. By the late 80s, Softbank hadcreated a system that let people across Japan choose telephone operators with the lowest rates for domestic and long-distance calls that was enormously popular. Sons net worth was soaring. He gave $ 20 million to the victim of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami (2011). While in university, he met his Physics professor Forrest Mozer, whod invented a speech synthesizer. This company, he told shareholders, is ready to become next Alibaba. The choice to namedrop his most famous investment may say as much about the pressure on Son to find yet another Alibaba-sized opportunity as it does about his actual enthusiasm for WeWork. (C) OfficeChai 2020. He plans to stay there during more frequent visits to Sprints headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., they said. Cable News Network. And then it calculates the spin and the speed of the ball and so it rolls on the course partially and depending on where it lands, the whole . 4,841 stories Al Jazeera . Its been barely a year since the Vision Fund officially launched, but, SoftBank has scored some modest wins with the Vision Fund. Continue reading your article witha WSJ membership, Already a member? [38][39], In the 2010s, through his holdings in SoftBank, Son bought a 76% share in Sprint. And then theres Uber, which SoftBank first invested in when the ride-hailing company was valued at $48 billion. [32][33][34] Although SoftBank's stake in Yahoo! It turned out I was more right than I thought.. Son repeatedly called Fujitas assistants, asking for a meeting, but his requests were ignored successful businessmen dont take time out of their busy schedules to meet eager 16-year-olds. Aron told him it could one day capture much of the worlds data. China's Ant group and Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank, two of the largest investors in Paytm's parent One97 Communications, are looking at reducing their holding in the fintech major. Harry said the royal family had shown no willingness to reconcile with him and even accused them of not liking Meghan from the beginning before they even had a chance to know her. The Journal said Claure encouraged Son to buy the house so he could hold meetings in Sprints principal offices rather than at offices in San Carlos, Calif., where he had been meeting with Sprint executives. He raised another 1.5 million this way. I just think $100 billion is a bridge too far., Son laid out his plan for crossing that bridge during the shareholder meeting in June. Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma, however, is not in favour of a strategic investor coming in via secondary share sale. He worked in Japan as a miner. Nov. 12, 1995. 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