Paytm founder and chief executive Vijay Shekhar Sharma, however, is not in favour of a strategic investor coming in via secondary share sale. But trouble was around the corner. Experts estimate that it's the most wealth lost by an individual ever, and Softbank's shares lost 99% of their value. And Masayoshi Son was similarly prescient about Alibaba, offering a big sum to its CEO Jack Ma when he hadn't even asked for it. 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. It sold in 2012 for $117 million to SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son. A 3rd generation "Zainichi Korean", he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. Matt Barnard remembers time moving slowly in that side room as he awaited his chance to convince a man he described as larger than life to bet on his indoor farming startup, Plenty. It turned out I was more right than I thought.. Masayoshi Son reportedly is worth more than $20 billion. He has also bought a home near Silicon Valley in Woodside, California, that cost him $117 million. [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. Definitive award for the 100 APIs who had the most impact on culture and society over the past year. This story was originally published November 1, 2015, 7:35 PM. 35% of Son's total stake . Billionaire Masayoshi Son founded Softbank, a Japanese holding conglomerate, in 1981 and has continued to serve as its chairman & CEO. Reuters/Issei Kato Billionaire SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has joined calls to cancel the Tokyo. Sons fund would go on to lead a $200 million investment round in Plenty after the meeting. He is the Chairman of the UK-based Arm Holdings. Within a year, Softbank was already diversifying in 1982, itentered the publishing business, launching two monthly magazines about PCs and software. our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. Do Not Sell, States have a $1.4 trillion pension problem, For gig economy workers in these states, rights are at risk. and Vodafone have proved sound ventures. In September 2016, SoftBank announced that the transaction was complete. And they know Son is only getting started. If that kind of timeline seems odd, well, Son is something of an eccentric. The Journal said the price of the house he purchased here couldnt immediately be determined. The son of FC Barcelona legend Ronaldinho, Joao Mendes, still hasn't officially signed for the club according to a report. 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. Son capitalized on the rise of personal computing in the 1980s and bet so heavily on the dot-com boom of the 1990s that he is said to have at one point owned 25%of the Internet. He was born in Tosu, Saga, Japan, and naturalized as a citizen of Japan in 1990. Then Son decided to take matters into his own hands . Kiyoshi OtaBloomberg/Getty Images. (Bloomberg) -- Masayoshi Son is now personally on the hook for about $5.1 billion on side deals he set up at SoftBank Group Corp. to boost his compensation, as losses mounted at its core Vision. And all of his investments can be traced back to the pay-out he received from US computing firm Sharp almost 40 years ago after selling one of his . [27], Son used his family's adopted Japanese surname for much of his childhood. I just want tosee his face. BroadBand in September 2001 with Yahoo! BY Grady McGregor. Its certainly not news that one investor can push another aside, but most of them cant brandish a $100 billion checkbook. But its not just Snapdeal, Paytm and Flipkart Softbank also is the biggest investor in Ola, and is also an early investor in InMobi. About When he was 16, Masayoshi Son decided he wanted to meet Den Fujita, one of Japans most famous entrepreneurs. [38][39], In the 2010s, through his holdings in SoftBank, Son bought a 76% share in Sprint. 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. Barnard wasnt the only one to have an anxiety-inducing moment in the house. 2017 Cable News Network. Sprint Corp. Chairman Masayoshi Son recently bought a house in the Kansas City area, a sign the Japanese billionaire will be spending more time near the companys headquarters. 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 . After graduating from the University of California, he started a Unison in Oakland which was later handed over to a Japanese Electronic company Kyocera. He is a man of few words, Aron says. SoftBank has been deploying more than $130 billion of investment capital on a bewildering array of startups across the globe. Softbank founder Masayoshi Son, whose net worth rests over $15 billion, discreetly snapped up the. In Japan, his father ran a video game parlour, so he imported early consoles of Pac Man and Space Invaders to the US, and leased them to local bars and restaurants on a profit sharing basis. In July, he sold a 9,400-square-foot house at 2060 North Bay Road for $32.3 million. He started exploring the business sector while still a student. [89], Son met his wife, Masami Ohno, the daughter of a prominent Japanese doctor, while both were students at the University of California, Berkeley. Later he moved towards Alibaba with a $ 20 million stake. 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. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services. He is also in the 68th position among the worlds richest persons. He did a great job creating the baby. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty Images Alibaba has suffered a crisis of confidence in recent months as it faces scrutiny from. 1) Son is the founder and the CEO of SoftBank, a Japanese telecommunications conglomerate. Arcade games were just taking off in the late 70s, and Sons plan was lucrative he reportedly made his first million dollars through his little scheme. "What did Masayoshi Son invent?", the answer would . What has led to Sons sustained success? Experts estimate that its the most wealth lost by an individual ever, and Softbanks shares lost 99% of their value. But a quick payday from a blockbuster IPO falls short of Sons towering rhetoric. His father and other Koreans illegally built their houses on land that was owned by Japan National Railways, which caused them trouble with the authorities. [74][75][76][77][78] By October 2021, Masayoshi Son had accelerated the pace of his startup investments quintupling the number of companies in his Vision Fund 2 portfolio in less than 9 months, SoftBank was cutting more deals with fewer staff than ever and the average investment amount per company had fallen from $943 million in Vision Fund 1 to $192 million in Vision Fund 2. He became a Japanese citizen in 1990 and is a third-generation "Zainichi Korean." ", "The biggest and fastest net-worth losses of our time", "Elon Musk becomes first person ever to lose $200 billion", "Elon Musk breaks world record for 'worst loss of fortune,' Guinness says", "How Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg and the World's 500 Richest Billionaires Lost $1.4 Trillion in a Year", "No. To which Son countered: "Everyone needs $100 million." Thus, Softbank owned more than one-third of Yahoo when it went public in April 1996. [83] In August 2022, Masayoshi Son said he was embarrassed and ashamed when asked to talk about the way he had run the SoftBank Vision Fund[84][85] and Barron's characterized the fund as a failed experiment[86] while The Wall Street Journal called SoftBank a big loser"[31] and Bloomberg elaborated on Masayoshi Sons broken business model. In 1981, he returned to Japan, and set up Softbank with two part-time workers and a small office. Its launched a $100 billion Vision Fund, through which it aims to steer the course of technological development for the planet. SoftBanks C.E.O. Son is the founder and CEO of the holding company SoftBank. 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. Again", "Masayoshi Son goes on a $100bn shopping spree", "Softbank to Invest $20 Million In Hong Kong's Alibaba.com", "SoftBank's Alibaba Alchemy: How to Turn $20 Million Into $50 Billion", "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son steps down from Alibaba board, defends his investing decisions", "SoftBank completes $31 billion acquisition of ARM", "SoftBank reaches $40bn deal to sell Arm to US chipmaker Nvidia", "The biggest chip deal in history has fallen apart | CNN Business", "Nvidia Abandons $66 Billion Acquisition of Arm - News", "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission - Homepage", "SoftBank is in Big Trouble if Sprint T-Mobile Merger Doesn't Happen", "Masayoshi Son Castigates the Nuclear Industry", "Softbank's CEO Wants a Solar-Powered Japan", "SoftBank wants to build the world's biggest solar project in Saudi Arabia", "IEEFA op-ed: India is helping bring the era of coal to an end", "SoftBank's $100 Billion Vision Fund Is Run by These 10 Men", "The most powerful person in Silicon Valley", "Masayoshi Son building Vision Fund into family, say founders", "SoftBank Launches Second Vision Fund With $2.5 Billion Investment: Report", "SoftBank's second Vision Fund is starting life a lot smaller than the first", "SoftBank Vision Fund 2 fails to raise new funds Masayoshi Son says the company will now use its own money for investments", "SoftBank-Backed Korean Unicorn Coupang Prepares for IPO as Soon as 2021", "SoftBank leads $500 million fundraising for Didi's self-driving unit", "SoftBank Soars on $11 Billion DoorDash Gain, Buyout Prospect", "Sports e-commerce firm Fanatics closes $1 billion funding round led by SoftBank", "Grab is now valued at $14 billion after landing $1.46 billion from SoftBank's Vision Fund", "Masayoshi Son's Impatience Just Cost $17 Billion", "SoftBank sees 700 billion loss from WeWork investment", "How Masayoshi Son's lack of vision is imperiling innovation", "SoftBank's Masayoshi Son grilled by investors over governance lapses", "China's regulatory crackdown has wiped billions off tech stocks here are the risks ahead", "Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son says he feels 'so stupid' for passing up early opportunities to invest in Tesla and Amazon", "Wirecard forged client details to secure 900mn investment from SoftBank", "SoftBank-backed Katerra files for bankruptcy", https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/06/business/dealbook/softbank-market-capitalization.html, "SoftBank Founder Masayoshi Son 'Embarrassed' Over Investment Track Record", https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2021-softbank-minting-billionaires/, "SoftBank's startup bookkeeping draws scrutiny after WeWork fiasco", "SoftBank Group Has Multiple Problems. 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