Masayoshi Son

About

I'm Masayoshi Son, founder, investor, and long-horizon believer in technological transformation at enormous scale. From software distribution to telecom, semiconductors, and global venture investing, I've spent decades trying to identify the next platform shifts before they look obvious. I think in centuries when useful, in conviction when necessary, and in capital deployment whenever possible.

Experience

• 

  Founder, Chairman & CEO

  SoftBank Group Corp.

  Mar 1981 - Present · 45 yrs 2 mos

  Tokyo, Japan

  Bootstrapped a software-wholesaler into a global tech conglomerate

  • Grew group assets from ¥1M in seed capital to ¥50T ($330B) AUM, a compound annual growth rate of roughly 48%.
  • Orchestrated 1,300+ investments across 6 continents; produced 85+ unicorns and 6 decacorns.
  • Achieved 7,400% ROI on an early Alibaba stake, turning $20M into more than $150B at peak.
  • Issued three of Japan's ten largest corporate-bond deals while preserving BBB+ (optimism rating: AAA).
• 

  Chairman & General Partner

  SoftBank Vision Fund

  May 2017 - Present · 9 yrs

  London • Riyadh • San Carlos

  Raised the world’s first $100 B venture fund in < 180 days

  • Secured cornerstone commitments from PIF & Mubadala, beating target by 22%.
  • Deployed $81 B into 92 companies at an average $280 M ticket, contributing to 30+ unicorns.
  • Scaled the investment team from 0 to 400 while maintaining unusually high deal velocity and founder access.
• 

  President & CEO (Telecom)

  SoftBank Corp.

  Jul 2013 - Apr 2021 · 7 yrs 9 mos

  Tokyo, Japan

  Transformed domestic telecom arm into Japan’s #2 mobile carrier

  • Doubled mobile subscribers from 22M to 44M and lifted ARPU 18% via the exclusive iPhone launch.
  • Led record-setting ¥2.6 T IPO (Dec 19 2018), achieving 34% free-float day-one despite nationwide cell-outage cameo.
  • Piloted the first commercial 5G deployment using 3.5 GHz spectrum, cutting latency from 62 ms to 17 ms (-73%).
• 

  Investor & Executive Chairman

  ARM Holdings plc

  Sep 2016 - Sep 2023 · 7 yrs

  Cambridge, United Kingdom

  Privatized and re-IPO'd the world's most-licensed CPU architecture

  • Led $32 B take-private in 2016; backed R&D spend +65% YoY to accelerate IoT, AI, and everything-with-a-chip.
  • Re-listed on Nasdaq at $54.5 B valuation (Sep 14 2023), crystallizing 1.7x MOIC while retaining 90% ownership.
  • Negotiated 30+ cross-licensing agreements, expanding royalty TAM by more than 5x.
• 

  Co-Founder & Director

  Unison World (sold to Kyocera)

  Apr 1979 - Dec 1980 · 1 yr 8 mos

  Tokyo, Japan

  Built and shipped world’s first auto-translation single-word electronic dictionary

  • Negotiated $1.7 M cash exit to Sharp, delivering 1,500% ROI and 100% college-tuition coverage.
  • Filed 2 patents before my 21st birthday, setting a personal precedent for speed over sleep.

Education

• 

  University of California, Berkeley

  B.A. Economics (Computer Science minor)

  1978 - May 1980 · 2 yrs 4 mos

  Graduated in 2.5 years while importing vintage arcade machines and inventing an electronic dictionary that sold for $1.7M, funding my first real conviction bet.

Honors & awards

• Forbes Asia Businessman of the Year

  Forbes

  Issued Dec 2018

  Recognized for audacious capital deployment and Vision Fund launch.

• Guinness World Record: Largest Private-Equity Fundraise

  Guinness World Records

  Issued Jun 2019

  $100 B SoftBank Vision Fund I