Masayoshi Son SoftBank’s Billionaire Founder

Masayoshi Son SoftBank’s Billionaire Founder

Introduction

According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and C.E.O. of the Japanese holding firm SoftBank, is worth an estimated $16.3 billion. After Tadashi Yanai, the creator of Uniqlo, he holds the second-highest net worth in Japan.

Son invests millions of dollars through SoftBank and his $100 billion Vision Fund in some of Silicon Valley’s most excellent innovative firms, including Uber, WeWork, Slack, and DoorDash. He has a $117.5 million estate in Silicon Valley and fundamental properties worth $45 million in Tokyo.

More than 1,000 businesses, including Alibaba and Yahoo Japan, are owned by SoftBank. The corporation generated $82.7 billion in revenue in 2018. Son is thought to be worth $16.3 billion. He now ranks second in terms of wealth in Japan, behind Tadashi Yanai, the creator of Uniqlo, whose estimated net worth is $29.6 billion. The 61-year-old C.E.O.’s 26 percent ownership position in the business, which makes him the largest shareholder, accounts for most of his fortune.

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Masayoshi Son’s Early Years and Education

Japan’s Tosu is where Masayoshi was born. He belongs to the racial or ethnic group known as “Zainichi Koreans,” who live permanently in Japan. He is one of the siblings who is second in age and has three brothers. His younger brother Taizo Son founded the venture capital company Mistletoe and GunHo Online Entertainment.

He left Japan at 16 and came to California to pursue higher education. He then resided in South San Francisco with his friends and family. While attending the university for his studies, he met his wife, Masami Ohno. Two children are born to the couple. He is presently a resident of Tokyo with his family.

Masayoshi relocated to California and took the required examinations at Serramonte High, completing his high school education in just three weeks. After that, he pursued his studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with a focus in Economics and Computer Science. He earned his diploma in 1980. He followed his interest in the business in front of Den Fujita, the president of McDonald’s in Japan, who suggested that he begin studying English and computer science.

Son Masayoshi- SoftBank And Vision Fund Investment

On September 3, 1981, Masayoshi created the SoftBank Group Corporation. He is the company’s founder and C.E.O., and the business is based in Minato, Tokyo. He also owns the SoftBank Hawks, a professional baseball franchise in Japan. A worldwide conglomerate holding company called SoftBank has investments in several technological, energy, and financial firms.

Additionally, it manages Vision Fund, the world’s largest technology-focused venture capital firm, with over $100 billion in resources. One of SoftBank’s investment vehicles is the $100 billion Vision Fund. It invests in cutting-edge technology, including robots, A.I., and the internet of things. To transform real estate, transportation, and retail, the business wants to treble the number of A.I. companies in its portfolio.

He has relationships with all of the Vision Fund-funded firms’ C.E.O.s. For a new fund, he wants to raise $100 billion. He makes annual investments in startups of roughly $ 50 billion every few years. According to records from 2020, Vision Fund made investments in 88 businesses, including the ride-sharing firm’s Grab, Coupang, and Paytm. The vision fund will have about 475 enterprises in its portfolio as of 2022.

Lavish lifestyle Of Masayoshi Son

Son has real estate worth millions in Tokyo, where SoftBank has its main office.

The SoftBank C.E.O. is the owner of Tokyo homes valued at roughly $45 million. The iconic Tiffany Building in Tokyo’s Ginza upscale shopping district cost him $326 million in 2013. Additionally, he is the owner of a $117.5 million estate in Silicon Valley that includes a 9,000 square foot house, a 1,117 square foot pool house, a separate library, a Water pool, a tennis court, and formal gardens. C.E.O. of SoftBank is close friends with other wealthy business leaders and C.E.O.s, including Tadashi Yanai, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Rupert Murdoch.

After spending more than half of the first $100 billion Vision Fund, SoftBank announced the launch of a second one in May 2019. Son is getting wealthy despite lavishly rewarding his executives and giving a portion of his compensation to earthquake victims.

Arm Holdings by Masayoshi Son

SoftBank successfully acquired Arm Holdings in 2016 for a price of $31.4 billion. Masayoshi is the Chairman of Arm Holdings, a US-based software development business. Arm Holdings was acquired in the largest-ever deal for European technology business and would be acquired by SoftBank for $31.4 billion, according to a July 2016 statement.SoftBank formally bought Arm Holdings in September 2016.

The entire acquisition was given company approval. The $34 billion acquisition cost was the total. Additionally, SoftBank added to its acquisition of Sprint Corporation by acquiring 76 percent of its stock.SoftBank purchased Sprint Corporation by acquiring 76 percent of the store.

Greatest Financial Loss For An Individual Ever Recorded In History

Masayoshi Son’s net worth was increasing by about USD 1.4 billion per day, or 10 billion dollars, during the peak of the dot-com boom. However, the son’s fairytale ended quickly. His company’s shares in Softbank fell by 75% in only two months after the dot-com bubble crashed and were 93% down by the end of 2000.

Son suffered the most significant documented financial loss in history, $70 billion after the company came dangerously close to going out of business. Son chose to take over a mobile carrier in order to achieve that objective. After facing several obstacles, he finally purchased Vodafone Japan in 2006, which turned out to be the game-changing move that saved SoftBank.Son has been improving ever since.

Conclusion

Masayoshi Son, the C.E.O. of Softbank, has promised Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a US$10 billion investment from Softbank’s “Vision Fund” into the I.T. industry. Masayoshi Son has previously purchased investments in Paytm, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Ola, and Grofers, among other companies. Because of Son’s preoccupation with the future, Softbank now has a 300-year plan in place.

However, the share price declines of SoftBank’s Chinese investments, particularly the online marketplace Alibaba, provide the company with its most complex challenge to date. Investors are concerned about greater scrutiny from Chinese regulators, which has caused a decline in Alibaba’s value. Alibaba, which made up around 24% of SoftBank’s assets in December, decreased in value by more than 60% after reaching a peak in October 2020.