Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire businessman who is the founder of mobile telecom and investment firm SoftBank.
He founded SoftBank in 1981 and has continued to serve as its chairman & CEO since then.
Son is globally admired for his uncanny business sense and resilience.
’Tech is his forte’
Son was an early investor in internet firms.
He bought a stake in Yahoo in 1995.
He then invested $20 million in Alibaba in 1999.
He has a liking for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and the internet of things.
He has invested in some of the biggest companies such as Uber, WeWork, Slack etc. through his $100 billion Vision Fund.
Softbank invests about $50 billion a year in startups and currently owns stakes in more than 1,000 companies.
In 2018, the company had revenues of $82 billion.
Astonishing Comeback
In 2000, Son received a major bolt when he lost approximately $70 billion during the dot com crash.
It was the biggest amount that any investor has ever lost in history.
But Son bounced back within a few years to re-establish his business by making some strategic acquisitions.
Currently, he has a net worth of more than $19 billion which makes him the 2nd richest person in Japan.
A generous philanthropist
Son is known for donating towards various charitable causes.
In 2011, he announced a donation of $120 million of his personal wealth plus his salary until his retirement to help Japanese tsunami victims.