Empire of The Rising Son
Script: Steven Millward
Interactives: Susi Susanti & Mervyn Lim
With his $110 billion SoftBank empire and his $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund,
Masayoshi Son is one of the biggest forces in global tech.
1957
Young Son developed a rebellious attitude.
1970s
At 16, he moved to San Francisco for high school. He later majored in economics at UC Berkeley.
1980s
Back in Japan, Son started SoftBank at the age of 23.
Starting with a mix of publishing and PC software distribution, he later transformed it into a telco.
1990s
The CEO took SoftBank public in 1994, valuing the firm at $3 billion.
Son first made global headlines in 1999 as the dot-com bubble put him among the world's richest people.
2000s
Just before the crash, his net worth was going up $10 billion each week.
For three days, he was the richest person on the planet. But the bubble popped, erasing nearly all of his worth as SoftBank almost went bankrupt.
2005
In 2005, Son secured a meeting with Apple's Steve Jobs, showing Jobs a rough drawing of an Apple phone inspired by the popular iPod.
That was two years before Jobs unveiled the iPhone.
Jobs: "Masa, don't give me your drawing. I have my own."
Son didn't have a mobile telco service at the time, but Jobs still agreed to give Apple's upcoming phone to Son as a Japan exclusive deal. Son moved into the mobile carrier business a year later with the acquisition of Vodafone's Japan unit.
Son is known for his investment acumen. Before the 2000 bubble popped, he'd already invested $1.7 billion in over 100 internet companies, including Yahoo and stock-trading site E-trade.
His strategy: Make early bets in a wide array of startups, then follow up with sizable stakes in the top performers.
That's how he got huge chunks of so many tech giants.
Son's stake in SoftBank Group: 25%
In 2014, Son invested in Uber rival Grab. In his Tokyo office, he said to Grab's Anthony Tan:
In 2016, Son invested in chipmaker ARM.
"I buy at the beginning of paradigm shifts. We are at that moment now with internet of things."
He is obsessed with robots and AI.
2014
2016
Saudi Arabia's state Public Investment Fund is the biggest investor in Vision Fund:
Son shocked the tech industry in 2016 by bringing together massive banks and investors to raise $100 billion for Vision fund, the world's largest investment vehicle.
The move made Son a major power broker in global tech.
The Vision Fund has made around 60 huge bets so far, including:
Sources: Tech in Asia, Financial Express, Bloomberg, CNBC, Crunchbase, TechCrunch, Apple Insider, Recode, Forbes
Images: 123rf.com, unsplash.com, economist.com