‘I think this is the reason I was born,’ SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son shares his dream

Masayoshi Son at SoftBank World 2016. Photo credit: @SoftBank.

“I want to meet,” said the voice over the speaker.

Sailing off the coast of Turkey, ARM chairman Stuart Chambers was on vacation when he received the unexpected phone call. On the other end of the line was Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank Group, and Japan’s most famous entrepreneur.

Stuart brought the ship to port in the town of Marmaris. The two met in a restaurant to start the flurry that would lead to SoftBank’s US$32 billion bid for the UK-based chip designer.

“The first time I seriously approached ARM about the acquisition was two weeks ago,” revealed Masayoshi on stage yesterday at the company’s annual SoftBank World conference.

Years of thought

The accelerated deal compacted a process that would normally take months, but it was built out of a decade-long crush. “For around ten years, I have had a strong interest in ARM. I knew some day we would work together.”

In a separate interview, Masayoshi admitted that it was about having the cash reserves to make it happen.

Although still awaiting approval, the US$32 billion purchase trumps SoftBank’s US$20 billion takeover of Sprint and beats out Microsoft’s recent US$26.2 billion buyout of LinkedIn.

Some can’t hang with the vision, but when Masayoshi is on his soapbox, most people listen.

“There is usually strong opposition internally when making a large investment,” Masayoshi said at a press conference earlier this week. “For these past 35 years it’s always been like that. But after talking about it and going over the purchase process, most people then agree. It’s because of my enthusiasm.”

The idolized businessman has turned a failing Vodafone branch into a major carrier and struck gold with early investments in Yahoo Japan, Alibaba, and others. He dreams into the future 300 years from now where people thank our generation for kickstarting the “singularity” and rapid progress that artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are expected to lead.

Masayoshi’s first two employees quit when, standing on an apple box, he legendarily declared to hit US$500 million in annual sales within ten years.

Some can’t hang with the vision, but when Masayoshi is on his soapbox, most people listen.