Masayoshi Son

Biography

Masayoshi Son was born in 1957 in Tosu, Saga prefecture, the son of a Korean-Japanese family who had immigrated to Japan. As a teenager, he read an article about microchips and became convinced he was looking at the future. At 16 he cold-called the president of McDonald's Japan, persuaded him to give him an interview, and convinced him he was serious enough to deserve a job managing a franchise at his age. He moved to California at 16 for high school, then the University of California Berkeley, where he studied economics and computer science. During his time at Berkeley he invented a multilingual electronic translator and licensed it to Sharp for $1M — his first business victory at 19.

He founded SoftBank in 1981, initially distributing software in Japan. In 1995 he invested $2M in Yahoo Japan, and in 1996 invested $100M in Yahoo US — becoming the largest Yahoo shareholder. These bets made him Japan's richest person. In 2000, at the peak of the dot-com boom, his net worth reached $78B. Then the bust came and he lost 93% of it — the largest paper wealth destruction by a single person in history to that point. He didn't flinch. He kept buying.

In 2000, in a 6-minute meeting, he gave Jack Ma $20M for 34% of an unknown company called Alibaba. That investment became worth over $60B. In 2016 he launched the $100B Vision Fund — the world's largest technology investment vehicle — backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi. Arm Holdings, SoftBank's semiconductor IP company acquired in 2016 for $32B, went public again in 2023 at a $60B valuation.

Core Philosophy

Think in centuries, not quarters. Son has publicly stated that SoftBank's plan covers 300 years. While that might seem theatrical, the underlying discipline is real: he invests in companies and technologies that require decades to mature. He refers to himself as the "crazy one" who takes bets others won't — because he is operating on a different time horizon.

Bet on founders, not business plans. Son's criteria for investment is famously people-first. He met Jack Ma for 6 minutes and invested $20M based on the look in Ma's eyes. "I don't look for companies. I look for founders." He believes the character and vision of a founder is more predictive of success than any financial model.

The singularity as north star. Son believes artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence within decades — the singularity — and is structuring every SoftBank investment around that belief. He sees information as the commodity of the next century: "Those who rule data will rule the entire world."

Famous Quotes

Notable Achievements

• Invested $20M in Alibaba in 2000 — became worth over $60B; greatest venture return in history
• Founded SoftBank in 1981 from a card table in a Fukuoka warehouse; grew to $100B+ in assets
• Acquired Arm Holdings in 2016 for $32B; re-listed in 2023 at $60B+
• Launched Vision Fund in 2016 — $100B, the world's largest technology fund
• Invested in Uber, WeWork, DoorDash, Slack, Bytedance, and 400+ technology companies
• Lost $70B on paper in the dot-com bust — and rebuilt to become richer than before
• Built SoftBank into Japan's most valuable company by market cap
• Survived 5 near-death experiences for SoftBank and kept building

Lessons for the Executive Suite