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Masayoshi Son

SoftBank · Tosu, Japan

Korean-Japanese outsider who made the largest single venture bet in history — and then institutionalised the bet.

Conviction at scaleMulti-decade patienceOutsider hunger
Masayoshi Son
S
Company
SoftBank
Journey

Moves that mattered.

  1. 1981
    Founded SoftBank as a software distributor.
  2. 2000
    $20M into Alibaba returned ~$72B.
  3. 2016
    Launched the $100B Vision Fund.
  4. 2023
    Listed Arm at $54B.
Struggles

Lost $70B in the dotcom crash; rebuilt through telecom and Alibaba.

Family

Married Masami; three daughters. Famously frugal in personal life.

The full story

Masayoshi Son, in 1 chapters.

  1. Ch 01

    The story

    Korean-Japanese outsider who made the largest single venture bet in history — and then institutionalised the bet.

Sources & further reading

Where this story comes from.

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