Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son
Born	Masayoshi Yasumoto 11 8, 1957
Birthplace	Tosu, Saga, Japan
Nationality	Japanese
Occupation	Entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist
Title	Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group; Chairman, Arm Holdings; Chairman, Stargate LLC
Known for	Founder of SoftBank Group
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA)
Awards	Entrepreneur of the Year, The Asian Awards (2017)
Website	[https://group.softbank/en Official site]

Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義; born Masayoshi Yasumoto, August 11, 1957) is a Japanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist who founded SoftBank Group, a technology-focused investment holding company headquartered in Tokyo. A Zainichi Korean born in the southern Japanese city of Tosu, Son built SoftBank from a small software distribution business in the early 1980s into one of the world's largest technology conglomerates, with major holdings spanning telecommunications, semiconductors, e-commerce, and artificial intelligence. He serves as representative director, corporate officer, chairman, and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings and US-based Stargate LLC. Son's career has been defined by a series of high-stakes investment bets — most notably his early $20 million investment in Alibaba Group in 2000, which grew to a valuation of approximately $75 billion by the time of Alibaba's initial public offering in 2014. His investment career has also been marked by significant losses, including more than $59 billion in personal wealth during the dot-com crash of 2000. As of May 2025, Son is ranked 65th on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires. In recent years, he has positioned SoftBank as a central player in the global artificial intelligence industry, with ambitions to make SoftBank "the world's No. 1 ASI platform provider."

Early Life

Masayoshi Son was born Masayoshi Yasumoto on August 11, 1957, in Tosu, a small city in Saga Prefecture on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu. He is of Zainichi Korean descent — an ethnic Korean family that had settled in Japan. The Zainichi Korean community in Japan has historically faced social discrimination, and Son's family lived in modest circumstances during his childhood. He was raised under the Japanese surname Yasumoto before later adopting the Korean-origin surname Son.

Son has spoken publicly about the discrimination he faced as a Zainichi Korean growing up in Japan. In a notable public address, he revealed his Korean roots in part to inspire young people facing bigotry in Japan, speaking candidly about the prejudice that shaped his early experiences. The experience of growing up as a member of an ethnic minority in a largely homogeneous society has been cited as a formative influence on his drive and ambition.

As a teenager, Son became fascinated with the United States and the opportunities it represented. At the age of 16, he moved to the United States to pursue his education, a decision that would prove pivotal in shaping his future career in the technology industry. His early departure from Japan demonstrated the boldness and willingness to take unconventional paths that would later characterize his business career.

Education

Son attended high school in the United States after leaving Japan as a teenager. He subsequently enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied economics. While still a student at Berkeley, Son demonstrated an early entrepreneurial instinct. He reportedly developed a pocket electronic translator, which he sold to Sharp Corporation for approximately $1 million — providing him with early capital and confidence in his ability to commercialize technology.

Son earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley. After completing his studies, he returned to Japan to launch his business career, armed with the technical knowledge and entrepreneurial ambitions he had cultivated during his years in California.

Career

Founding of SoftBank and Early Ventures

In 1981, Masayoshi Son founded SoftBank Corp. in Tokyo as a software distribution company. The firm initially focused on distributing packaged software for personal computers, serving as an intermediary between software publishers and retailers in Japan's rapidly growing PC market. The company's name reflected its original focus on the software business — "Soft" for software and "Bank" as a repository or distributor.

During the 1980s, SoftBank expanded beyond software distribution into computing-related publishing, launching technology magazines and books that helped build the company's brand and revenue base. By the early 1990s, SoftBank had established itself as one of Japan's leading technology-related businesses, with significant operations in software distribution and publishing.

By 1995, The New York Times described Son as "a Japanese gambler" who had "hit the jackpot with Softbank," noting his aggressive approach to business expansion and deal-making. Son's strategy of making bold, large-scale investments in technology companies was already becoming apparent, as he positioned SoftBank to capitalize on the emerging internet revolution.

Internet Investments and the Dot-Com Era

In the mid-to-late 1990s, Son shifted SoftBank's strategy toward internet investments, making a series of large bets on companies that were part of the rapidly expanding World Wide Web. Among the most significant of these early investments, Son recognized the potential of the internet to transform commerce and communications in Asia and globally.

In 2000, Son made what would become one of the most profitable venture investments in history: a $20 million investment in Alibaba Group, the Chinese e-commerce company founded by Jack Ma. At the time, Alibaba was a small start-up, and the investment was considered a considerable risk. When Alibaba conducted its initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014, SoftBank's stake had grown to a valuation of approximately $50 billion to $75 billion — a return of several thousand percent on the original investment. By 2018, SoftBank's 27 percent stake in Alibaba — which included additional stock purchases made after the initial investment — was valued at approximately $132 billion.

However, the dot-com crash of 2000 dealt a severe blow to Son's personal fortune and SoftBank's market value. As technology stocks collapsed globally, the value of SoftBank's shares plummeted, and Son lost more than $59 billion in personal wealth — a figure that at the time represented the largest personal financial loss in history. One account reported that Son lost as much as $70 billion during this period. Despite these staggering losses, Son maintained his long-term investment strategy and continued to hold many of his positions, including the Alibaba stake, which would eventually vindicate his approach.

The Straits Times described Son as "the crazy guy who bet on the future," a characterization that captured both the audacity and the risk inherent in his investment philosophy.

Telecommunications and Domestic Expansion

Alongside his international investment activities, Son expanded SoftBank into the Japanese telecommunications industry. SoftBank Corp. evolved into a major telecommunications provider in Japan, offering broadband internet, mobile phone, and fixed-line services. This move transformed SoftBank from primarily a software and investment company into a telecommunications operator with tens of millions of subscribers in Japan.

The telecommunications business provided SoftBank with steady cash flows that helped underpin Son's aggressive investment strategy in other sectors. The transformation of SoftBank from a telecom operator into an investment management firm — ultimately renamed SoftBank Group Corp. — represented a fundamental shift in the company's identity and was central to Son's vision for the company as a global technology investment platform.

Arm Holdings Acquisition

In September 2016, SoftBank completed its acquisition of Arm Holdings, the British semiconductor design company, in a deal valued at approximately £24 billion ($32 billion). The acquisition was one of the largest technology deals in history and signaled Son's conviction that Arm's chip architecture would play a central role in the Internet of Things and future computing.

The Arm acquisition represented a strategic bet on the future of connected devices and mobile computing. Arm's chip designs are used in the vast majority of the world's smartphones and an increasing number of other electronic devices. Son positioned the acquisition as part of a long-term strategy aligned with what he termed the "information revolution." He retained the chairmanship of Arm Holdings following the acquisition.

SoftBank Vision Fund

The Economist described Son's approach as having "a messianic streak," noting that his investment strategy involved extraordinary risk-taking on a scale unusual even among major global investors. This characterization was particularly apt in the context of the SoftBank Vision Fund, which Son launched in 2017 as the world's largest technology-focused investment fund.

The first Vision Fund, which raised approximately $100 billion with significant backing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, invested in a wide range of technology companies across sectors including transportation, real estate, logistics, and healthcare. The fund's investments included stakes in companies such as Uber, WeWork, and numerous other technology start-ups.

Son's role in deploying the Vision Fund's capital made him one of the most influential figures in the global technology industry. Fast Company described him as potentially "the most powerful person in Silicon Valley" due to the sheer volume of capital he could deploy into technology companies. The Vision Fund's investments had mixed results — some produced significant returns, while others, most notably WeWork, led to substantial losses. A second Vision Fund was subsequently launched, though it also experienced significant challenges.

Artificial Intelligence Strategy

In the mid-2020s, Son increasingly oriented SoftBank's strategy around artificial intelligence, positioning the company as a major player in the emerging AI industry. In SoftBank's 2025 annual report, Son outlined his ambition for SoftBank to become "the world's No. 1 ASI platform provider," referring to artificial superintelligence.

In December 2025, SoftBank liquidated the last of its approximately $5.8 billion stake in Nvidia to fund investments in AI, including investments in OpenAI. Son publicly stated he was "crying" over the sale of the Nvidia shares, acknowledging the stock's strong performance, but insisted that the AI sector represented far greater opportunities ahead.

Son also pursued plans to invest heavily in American data center infrastructure. In December 2025, The Wall Street Journal reported that Son was seeking to develop a sprawling series of industrial parks in the United States, leveraging hundreds of billions of dollars in capital connected to the Japan–United States trade deal. However, reports in early 2026 indicated that Son had dropped plans to spend approximately $50 billion on acquiring a US data center company after pursuing the deal for months.

In February 2026, Son stated that access to artificial superintelligence should be considered "almost a human right," a comment that coincided with a 10 percent increase in SoftBank's share price following upbeat financial forecasts and the strong performance of Arm Holdings.

Personal Life

Son is a Zainichi Korean — a member of the ethnic Korean minority community in Japan. He was born with the Japanese surname Yasumoto and later adopted the Korean-origin surname Son. He has spoken publicly about his ethnic background on several occasions, including to inspire young people in Japan who face discrimination.

Son is described as Japan's second-richest person. As of May 2025, he is ranked 65th on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires. His personal fortune has fluctuated dramatically over the decades — from being one of the world's wealthiest individuals during the dot-com peak, to losing more than $59 billion in the subsequent crash, to rebuilding his wealth through the growth of the Alibaba stake and other investments.

Son's daughter attracted public attention in late 2025 when she was mentioned in connection with Spiber, a Japanese unicorn company, leading to unexpected media coverage.

Recognition

Son has received recognition from numerous international media organizations and institutions throughout his career. In 2013, he was placed 45th on Forbes magazine's list of the World's Most Powerful People. In 2017, he was named Entrepreneur of the Year at The Asian Awards.

Fast Company profiled Son as potentially "the most powerful person in Silicon Valley," a reflection of the enormous influence he wielded through the SoftBank Vision Fund's investment capacity. The Economist examined his "messianic streak" and appetite for risk, noting that he represented one of Japan's greatest technology tycoons.

Son was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People in AI list in both 2024 and 2025, reflecting his growing prominence in the artificial intelligence sector.

As of May 2025, Son ranks 65th on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires and 177th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He held for many years the distinction of having lost the most money in personal wealth of any individual in history — more than $59 billion during the dot-com crash of 2000 alone — a record later surpassed by Elon Musk.

Legacy

Masayoshi Son's career has been characterized by a willingness to make extraordinarily large bets on technology, resulting in both record-setting gains and record-setting losses. His $20 million investment in Alibaba, which eventually grew to be worth over $100 billion, stands as one of the most profitable venture capital investments ever made. Simultaneously, his losses during the dot-com crash were unprecedented in scale at the time.

Son's creation of the SoftBank Vision Fund fundamentally altered the landscape of technology investing. By deploying approximately $100 billion into a single fund focused on technology companies, he created a new model of technology investment that could provide start-ups with capital at a scale previously available only through public markets. The Vision Fund's approach — making very large investments in late-stage technology companies — was both emulated and criticized within the technology investment community.

His acquisition of Arm Holdings positioned SoftBank at the center of the global semiconductor industry, with Arm's chip designs used in billions of devices worldwide. In the 2020s, Son's pivot toward artificial intelligence and his stated goal of building SoftBank into a leading AI platform provider represent his latest large-scale strategic bet.

As a Zainichi Korean who publicly embraced his ethnic background, Son has also been noted for addressing the issue of ethnic discrimination in Japan, using his prominence to speak about his experiences and to encourage others facing similar challenges.

The Economist observed that Son's approach to business involves a degree of risk that sets him apart from most corporate leaders, describing it as a combination of genuine technological conviction and a "messianic streak" that drives his willingness to make investments that others would consider reckless. Whether viewed as a visionary investor or a high-risk gambler, Son's impact on the global technology industry — from his early days distributing software in Tokyo to his current ambitions in artificial superintelligence — has been substantial and far-reaching.