Read the latest breaking news from Masayoshi Son and from over 100 premium publishers, unwalled and ad free with one subscription. In the past, that meant telecoms and internet firms. How billionaire Masa Son is shaking up Silicon Valley By Seth Fiegerman Not far from the storied venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road, there's a palatial estate where Masayoshi Son, Silicon. Alibaba, of course, has ended up becoming one of the most valuable companies in the world, and Softbanks stake has now grown to an astonishing $130 billion, a 2240x return on his original investment. MASAYOSHI SON: "In my home in my basement I have a computer-simulated course. FC Barcelona legend Ronaldinho's son Joao Mendes has made his debut for the club against Manchester United. Aiming High. BB and BB Phone. Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp. (Bloomberg) Just last year, SoftBank was flying high, borrowing against . In the same year, Softbank signed an agreement with Nvidia. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. The Vision Funds have invested in over 100 companies, including ride-share firm Grab, Korean e-commerce leader Coupang and India's Paytm. Marketing and community activations to ensure the successful debut of creative projects. 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 was an early investor in many internet firms, such as Yahoo! You dont have to talk to me. [20], Son graduated from Berkeley with a B.A. What has led to Sons sustained success? had dwindled to 7%, Son established Yahoo! For Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, Neumann was the prodigal son he never had, with a wild-eyed vision to rival Son's own. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. But for all too many of them, Sons team arguably overpaid. The 2000 dot-com crash hit Son particularly hard. I walk into this immaculate and impressive home and manage to almost break a chandelier.. After attending two years of high school, he ended upstudyingEconomics at UC Berkley. Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire renowned for his interest in emerging technology companies. Son then invested billions in both of Snapdeals competitors, Paytm and Flipkart, ensuring that hed havea stake inany company that would eventually win Indias e-commerce race. [31] Son's holding company SoftBank owns 29.5% of Alibaba, which is worth around $108.7 billion as of 23 October 2018. At a time when most CEOs look no further ahead than the next quarter, Son forges ahead with a 300-year planfor his company. Now, Son may be giving up on Ma. 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. SoftBank, he said, is now a unicorn hunter.. Later he moved towards Alibaba with a $ 20 million stake. But trouble was around the corner. "What did Masayoshi Son invent?", the answer would . If that kind of timeline seems odd, well, Son is something of an eccentric. . He is also an investor and an entrepreneur like Masayoshi. 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. It made them face bad consequences. As per the Bloomberg billionaire index, Sons net worth is around $23.1 billion. The Journal report, which cited people familiar with the matter, was confusing geographically. Aug 12, 2022. Masayoshi Son founded and runs mobile telecom and investment giant SoftBank Group. 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. Later, they married and had two daughters. "[87], By November 2022, according to the Financial Times, Masayoshi Son personally owed SoftBank $4.7bn because of growing losses on the Japanese conglomerates technology bets, which have also rendered the value of his stake in the groups second Vision Fund worthless. Hes the closest thing to Bill Gates in Japan,, The Incredible Story Of Softbanks Masayoshi Son, Now The Most Influential Man In Indian Startups, Softbank Vision Fund Neden Baarsz Oldu? He is a man of few words, Aron says. [82] SoftBank's bad timing-prone, impulsive investment decisions regarding previously overhyped and consequently overvalued startups like Klarna, had plunged in value while some other investment firms had even been able to cash in before the startups' comedown to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profit. Armed with Alibabas returns, Softbank is now redoubling its efforts into investing in startups around the world. Son has three brothers. [Illustration:. Masayoshi Son (Japanese: , romanized: Son Masayoshi, Korean: , romanized: Son Jeong-ui) (born 11 August 1957) is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist.A 3rd generation "Zainichi Korean", he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990.He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Japanese holding company SoftBank, CEO . He moved to California for studies where he completed high school at the age of 16. Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. But the move that propelled Softbank into prominence was its investment in Yahoo. Scott Sandell, managing partner at New Enterprise Associates, said he was very close to sealing a $30 million investment in a startupat a $180 million valuation. He did a great job creating the baby. Sprint employees perhaps will soon be seeing more of Masayoshi Son around the Overland Park headquarters. Son at a 2016 press conference/Getty Images. As of December2022[update], Son ranks 67th on the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires 2022,[12] despite having had for many years the distinction of being the person who had lost the most money in history (more than $59bn[13] during the dot com crash of 2000 alone, when his SoftBank shares plummeted),[14] a feat surpassed by other billionaires[15][16][17] in the following decades due to the volatile nature of the stock market, the shortcomings of financial risk and unavoidable changes in asset valuation. BroadBand in September 2001 with Yahoo! WeWorkcontrolled by billionaire Masayoshi Sons SoftBank Grouphas unveiled its flagship office tower in Singapore as the company expands in the Asian financial hub, which is among its fastest growing markets. Before the crash, he had a net worth of $78 billion, but lost it all overnight, losing $70 billion in one fateful day. SoftBank's investment vehicle, the $100 billion Vision Fund, invests in emerging technologies like [] He founded the Japanese holding company, SoftBank, and serves as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Hes a very aggressive, risk-taking, entrepreneurial person. At age 19, Son became confident that computer technology would ignite the next commercial revolution after being enamoured by a microchip featured in a magazine. He later sold the company to an associate for close to $2 million, and the company was eventually acquired by Kyocera. Updated: 28 Feb 2023, 12:10 PM IST The Economist. In addition to this incredible work, Masayoshi also serves as a director of Sprint Corporation, Yahoo! I just want tosee his face. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. Plus, 60% off clearance with American Eagle promo code, Receive 15% Off DIY Online Tax Filing Products with H&R Block. [28][23] "If I had stayed all the time in Japan, Mr. 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. Updated: 16 Mar 2022, 02:35 PM IST Bloomberg. Also read-PhonePe | A Leading digital Payment application in the trending market. Facebook (Meta) Success Storyof Biggest Social Networking Site! But he made another move that would define his career for the next decade he invested $30 million in a little-known Chinese startup called Alibaba. You dont have to look at me. He plans to stay there during more frequent visits to Sprints headquarters in Overland Park, Kan., they said. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. SoftBank has been deploying more than $130 billion of investment capital on a bewildering array of startups across the globe. And several investors told CNNMoney that SoftBank is driving up valuations for everybody. 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. Masayoshi Son has now lost more than $4 billion (532.4 billion) on a series of side deals he set up at SoftBank Group to boost his compensation, a painful blow triggered by . and Vodafone have proved sound ventures. All rights reserved. Yet, Yahoo! Bernard Arnault Success Story | CEO of LVMH | Investor, Andy Jassy Success Story CEO of Amazon | Facts | Life Lessons, Paytm Success Story Founder, Funding| Case Study, Tim Cook Success Story | CEO of Apple Journey & Biography, Kishore Biyani | Success story of Indias Modern Retail King, Jawed Karim Success Story | Co-Founder of YouTube, Sean Parker Success Story | Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Cameron Diaz | Success Story of the Globally-Recognized Actress, Vin Diesel | Success Story of the Multifaceted Artist, Rachel McAdams | Success Story of the Oscar-Nominated Actress, OYO Success Story | Case Study | Business Model | Facts & More, Lenskart Success Story | Indias #1 Eyewear Brand. Mr. Internet was back, and more ambitious than ever. Masayoshi Son is a Japanese Entrepreneur, Investor, and Philanthropist. . To live in Japan, Sons family built houses illegally on the land of the Japan National Railway. Softbank was a software distributor at the time, selling packaged software to Japanese clients. Before I told anybody else, our stock started crashing We almost went bankrupt. To which Son countered: "Everyone needs $100 million." Thus, Softbank owned more than one-third of Yahoo when it went public in April 1996. [79][80][81] In 2022, SoftBank Vision Fund posted a record 3.5 trillion yen loss ($27.4 billion) for its financial year ended on 31 March 2022 as the valuation of its stock portfolio plummeted. It made him inclined toward technology and he later became a tech entrepreneur and an investor. Later, he studied B.A. 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 was interested in business since childhood. Son is also remarkably comfortable taking large, risky bets, and has a keen eye for the future. Masayoshi Son is going to bolster the coffers of his SoftBank Group with a $34 billion gain from cutting its stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. 9,452 stories Tesla Inc. 7,811 stories US Federal Reserve. We're changing cultural narratives through authentic and affirming API storytelling. Softbankbecame the primary shareholder in Yahoo, and set up Yahoo Japan, its Japanese subsidiary. Startup founders fortunate enough to earn an audience with Son, a 60-year old billionaire with a global network and vast funds, recall being led down a hallway lined with artwork to make the pitch of a lifetime. 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. [67] Son became noted as a stock investor after the meteoric rise of Alibaba Group. 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. Please log in if you don't want to post Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. As a student studying economicsat UC-Berkeley forty years ago, he convinced Forrest Mozer, a professor who had invented a talking calculator for the blind, to join him in building a pocket translator. 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. 45: Masayoshi Son - In Photos: The World's Most Powerful People: 2013", "SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son: A 'crazy' billionaire obsessed with the future", "MEDIA; an Entrepreneurial Exception Rides the Internet in Japan", "The David Rubenstein Show: Masayoshi Son", "Japanese-Style Entrepreneurship: An Interview with Softbank'S CEO, Masayoshi Son", "CEO revealed Korean roots to inspire youths facing bigotry in Japan", "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son quietly lifts stake to 34%, edging toward buyout", "SoftBank Emerges as a Big Loser of the Tech Downturn. Snapdeal was floundering at the beginning of this year, but Son was adamant on winning a slice of Indias lucrative e-commerce pie. [37] However, the deal with Nvidia failed as announced in February 2022. 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