Late one afternoon in October 2023, Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank, sat in his office reflecting on the lowest point of his career. He expressed self-pity and dissatisfaction with his achievements. Despite being a renowned investor and having made successful investments in companies like Yahoo and Alibaba, Son felt that he had not accomplished anything to be proud of.
Son’s journey has been marked by both success and failure. He experienced tremendous wealth during the dotcom bubble but lost most of it when it burst. However, he bounced back by launching a successful broadband and mobile phone business in Japan. He then disrupted Silicon Valley with the $100bn SoftBank Vision Fund but faced significant setbacks.
As editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber found Son to be an intriguing subject for a biography. Barber flew to Tokyo twice to meet him but was initially unsuccessful due to Son’s busy schedule. Eventually, Barber managed to secure interviews with Son and over 150 people who knew or worked with him.
Son’s background as a second-generation Korean immigrant growing up in poverty shaped his drive for success. His father was involved in various businesses such as bootlegging and pig breeding to support their family. Despite facing discrimination as a Korean-Japanese individual, Son had ambitions beyond Japan and dreamed of studying abroad.
Son’s time in California exposed him to the PC revolution and inspired him to pursue entrepreneurship. He made his first fortune by developing a pocket speech synthesizer while studying at UC Berkeley.
Throughout his career, Son acted as a middleman between US tech businesses seeking entry into the Japanese market. His investments in Yahoo and Alibaba were highly profitable, but he also faced challenges along the way.
SoftBank’s high leverage has been both an advantage and a risk for Son. While it allowed him access to cheap capital for acquisitions, it also left SoftBank vulnerable during market downturns.
Despite criticism from some quarters about SoftBank’s corporate governance practices, Son remains committed to building an empire that will revive Japan’s economy.
Son’s ambitious plans for SoftBank include transforming it into an AI powerhouse through ventures like Arm Holdings’ acquisition and developing AI chips.
While some investments have paid off handsomely for SoftBank, others have resulted in heavy losses due to timing issues or misjudgments on potential growth opportunities.
Lionel Barber concludes that counting out Masayoshi Son would be unwise given his resilience throughout his career.
