Masayoshi Son

Extracted Attributes

• Spouse

  Masami Ohno

• Children

  2

• Education

  University of California, Berkeley (BA)

• Ethnicity

  Zainichi Korean

• Known For

  Founder of SoftBank Group

• Occupation

  Entrepreneur, Investor, Philanthropist, Engineer

• Citizenship

  Japanese (naturalized 1990)

• Korean Name

  Son Jeong-ui

• Date of Birth

  1957-08-11

• Original Name

  Masayoshi Yasumoto

• Current Titles

  Founder, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group; Chairman of Arm Holdings; Chairman of Stargate LLC

• Place of Birth

  Tosu, Saga Prefecture, Japan

• Awards/Recognition

  Forbes' World's Most Powerful People (2013), Entrepreneur of the Year at The Asian Awards (2017), Time 100 AI list (2024)

• Notable Financial Event

  Lost over $59 billion during the dot-com crash (2000)

• Net Worth (Forbes, May 2025)

  65th on The World's Billionaires list

• Net Worth (Bloomberg Billionaires Index)

  No. 177

Timeline

• Born Masayoshi Yasumoto in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, Japan. (Source: summary, wikipedia, wikidata, web_search_results)

  1957-08-11

• Traveled to the United States to study computer science. (Source: web_search_results)

  1973

• Married Masami Ohno. (Source: web_search_results)

  1979

• Founded Nihon SoftBank (later SoftBank Group Corp.), serving as Chairman & CEO. (Source: wikipedia, web_search_results)

  1981-09

• Achieved notability in PC software distribution, computing-related book/magazine publishing, and telecommunications in Japan. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  1980s

• Naturalized as a Japanese citizen. (Source: summary, dbpedia)

  1990

• Made an early $20 million investment in Alibaba Group. (Source: summary, wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2000

• Experienced a loss of over $59 billion during the dot-com crash. (Source: wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2000

• Became Director of Alibaba.com Corporation (now Alibaba Group Holding Limited). (Source: web_search_results)

  2005-10

• Became Chairman of the Board, President & CEO of Vodafone K.K. (now SoftBank Corp.). (Source: web_search_results)

  2006-04

• Ranked 45th on Forbes magazine's list of the World's Most Powerful People. (Source: wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2013

• Alibaba's IPO, SoftBank's initial $20 million investment reached a valuation of around $75 billion. (Source: wikipedia)

  2014

• SoftBank acquired Arm Holdings, and Son became Chairman and Executive Director. (Source: related_documents, web_search_results)

  2016-09

• Named Entrepreneur of the Year at The Asian Awards. (Source: wikipedia)

  2017

• Became Chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. and founded SoftBank Vision Fund. (Source: web_search_results, wikipedia)

  2017-06

• SoftBank's 27% stake in Alibaba was worth $132 billion. (Source: wikipedia, dbpedia)

  2018

• Established the second SoftBank Vision Fund. (Source: wikipedia)

  2019

• Included in the Time 100 AI list. (Source: summary, wikipedia)

  2024

• Ranked 65th on Forbes's list of The World's Billionaires. (Source: wikipedia)

  2025-05

• Spoke at the SoftBank World event in Tokyo, Japan, alongside OpenAI chief Sam Altman. (Source: web_search_results)

  2025-07-16

Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義, romanized: Son Masayoshi, Korean: 손정의, romanized: Son Jeong-ui, born Masayoshi Yasumoto, Japanese: 安本 正義, romanized: Yasumoto Masayoshi; August 11, 1957) is a Japanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. A Zainichi Korean, he is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and chief executive of SoftBank Group (SBG), a technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings and US-based Stargate LLC. As an entrepreneur, he achieved notability in PC software distribution, computing-related book and magazine publishing, and telecommunications in Japan, starting in the 1980s and booming throughout the 1990s and 2000s. His early $20 million investment in Alibaba Group in 2000 grew substantially over the years, reaching a valuation of around $75 billion by 2014 following Alibaba's IPO and contributing significantly to SoftBank's financial success. SoftBank's 27 percent stake in Alibaba was worth $132 billion in 2018, including additional purchases of the stock since 2000. The morphing of his own telecom company SoftBank Corp. into an investment management firm called SoftBank Group Corp. made him noted worldwide as a stock investor. He is known for his bold investment strategies, sometimes resulting in major losses, particularly with the first and second SoftBank Vision Funds. In 2013, Son was placed 45th on the Forbes magazine's list of the World's Most Powerful People. In 2017 he was named Entrepreneur of the Year at The Asian Awards. As of May 2025, Son ranks 65th on the Forbes's list of The World's Billionaires and is No. 177 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He had for many years the distinction of being the person who had lost the most money in history (more than $59bn during the dot-com crash of 2000 alone, when his SoftBank shares plummeted), a feat surpassed by Elon Musk in the following decades. Son was included in Time 100 AI list in 2024.

Web Search Results

• Masayoshi Son

  Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義, romanized:_Son Masayoshi_, Korean: 손정의, romanized:_Son Jeong-ui_, born Masayoshi Yasumoto,Japanese: 安本 正義, romanized:_Yasumoto Masayoshi_; August 11, 1957) is a Japanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. A Zainichi Korean, he is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and chief executive of SoftBank Group (SBG),( a technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings and US-based Stargate [...] Masayoshi Son was born Masayoshi Yasumoto( on August 11, 1957, in Tosu, Saga Prefecture to Zainichi Korean parents.( Son's grandfather, Son Jong-kyung, a native of Daegu, moved to Japan during the Japanese colonial period where he worked as a miner.( Son's father, Son Sam-heon, raised pigs and chickens, and illegally built the family home on land that was owned by the Japanese National Railways, which caused them trouble with the authorities.( His father started an illegal sake business that [...] | 孫 正義 | | Image 4.jpg) Son in 2025 | | Born | Masayoshi Yasumoto (安本 正義)( (1957-08-11) 11 August 1957 (age 68) Tosu, Saga, Japan | | Other names | Son Jeong-ui | | Education | University of California, Berkeley (BA) | | Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist | | Known for | Founder of Softbank Group | | Title | Chairman and CEO, SoftBank Group Chairman, Arm Holdings Chairman, Stargate LLC | | Spouse | Masami Ohno ​ (m.1979)​ | | Children | 2 |

• Son Masayoshi | Biography & Facts

  Son Masayoshi (born August 31, 1957, Saga prefecture, Kyushu, Japan) is a Japanese entrepreneur who served as chairman and CEO of Softbank Corp, a media and telecommunications company he founded in 1981. 0 seconds of 0 seconds Volume 90% Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts Keyboard Shortcuts Shortcuts Open/Close / or ? Play/Pause SPACE Increase Volume ↑ Decrease Volume ↓ Seek Forward → Seek Backward ← Captions On/Off c Fullscreen/Exit Fullscreen f [...] Son was a third-generation Korean with Japanese citizenship. Before traveling to the United States to study in 1973, he repeatedly tried to meet Fujita Den, president of McDonald’s Company (Japan), Ltd., to seek his advice. When they finally met, Fujita advised Son to study computer science. Nearly 20 years later the two met again. By that time, Son had become a leading distributor of computer software and related publications in Japan and was president of Softbank Corp. Fujita was deeply moved [...] Entertainment & Pop Culture Literature Sports & Recreation Visual Arts Image Galleries Infographics Podcasts Summaries Top Questions Britannica Kids Subscribe Now # Son Masayoshi Japanese entrepreneur Also known as: Yasumoto Masayoshi Written by Teiji Shimizu Teiji Shimizu Freelance Reporter. Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

• Biography: Masayoshi Son | SoftBank Group Corp.

  Since founding SBG in September 1981, Mr. Masayoshi Son has been at the helm of the Group’s management for 42 years, achieving remarkable growth for the Group through advancement into the Internet, telecommunications and AI businesses, investment in the world’s largest e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding Limited, acquisition of UK-based ARM Holdings plc and founding SoftBank Vision Fund, among other efforts. [...] | Oct. 2005 | Director, Alibaba.com Corporation (currently Alibaba Group Holding Limited) | | Apr. 2006 | Chairman of the Board, President & CEO, Vodafone K.K. (currently SoftBank Corp.) | | Sept. 2016 | Chairman and Executive Director, ARM Holdings plc | | June 2017 | Chairman & CEO, SoftBank Group Corp. | | Nov. 2020 | Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & CEO, SoftBank Group Corp. (to present) | | Apr. 2021 | Board Director, Founder, SoftBank Corp. (to present) | [...] Masayoshi Son founded Nihon SoftBank (currently SoftBank Group Corp.) in 1981 and has continued to serve as its chairman & CEO. | Sept. 1981 | Founded Nihon SoftBank (currently SoftBank Group Corp.), Chairman & CEO |

• Aiming High: Masayoshi Son, SoftBank, and Disrupting ...

  not Mark Zuckerberg, not Elon Musk. They might have the money, but they lack Masa's combination of ambition, imagination, and nerve.Masayoshi Son is the most powerful person in Silicon Valley. As CEO and founder of the Japanese investment firm, SoftBank Group, 'Masa' has invested in some of the most exciting and influential tech companies in recent memory - Uber, WeWork, ByteDance, and many others. Prior to that, he was known as one of the first investors in Alibaba and Yahoo!He has an [...] audacious vision for the future and one that is unmatched in the tech industry. Aiming High provides insight into this charismatic and visionary leader.Originally published in Japan, this book charts Son's rise from a Korean immigrant who left Japan at 16 to becoming one of the wealthiest people in the world. With unprecedented access to Son, including exclusive interviews, this book creates an authoritative account of how SoftBank Group and it's visionary and charismatic CEO is shaping the [...] Atsuo Inoue (井上 篤夫/いのうえあつお?, born July 15, 1947) is a Japanese writer and translator. He is regarded as an expert on cinema and works of Frank Capra. and the author of Aiming High—A Biography of Masayoshi Son. Biography[edit source] Inoue was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan, during the baby boom that took place after World War II. Many of his classes at Waseda University were cancelled due to student protests. Beginning of career as reporter[edit source]

• SoftBank founder Son makes his biggest bet by staking the ...

  Image 9: Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., speaks at the SoftBank World event in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Speaking via teleconference, Son and OpenAI chief Sam Altman argued that advancing artificial intelligence would lead to new jobs that are not yet imagined, and the advancement of robotics will help kickstart a "self-improvement" loop. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images [...] Masayoshi Son, chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group Corp., speaks at the SoftBank World event in Tokyo, Japan, on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images Masayoshi Son is making his biggest bet yet: that his brainchild SoftBank will be the center of a revolution driven by artificial intelligence.

• Award

  Time 100

• Image

  

• Gender

  male

• Educated At

  University of California, Berkeley

• Instance Of

  Q5

• Occupation

  engineer

• Citizenship

  Japan

• Date Of Birth

  8/11/1957

• Place Of Birth

  Tosu

Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義, romanized: Son Masayoshi, Korean: 손정의, romanized: Son Jeong-ui) (born 11 August 1957) is a Korean-Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor, financier and philanthropist. A 3rd generation "Zainichi Korean", he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Japanese holding company SoftBank, CEO of SoftBank Mobile and chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings. Since Son founded SoftBank in 1981, he has made many investments, but the vast majority of those deals failed, and his reputation as an investor rests almost solely on his $20 million investment in Alibaba Group in 2000, a stake that was worth $130 billion in 2018. The morphing of his own telecom company SoftBank Corp. into an investment management firm called SoftBank Group Corp. made him noted worldwide as a stock investor. However, after a number of high-profile setbacks, Son's investing strategy in the first and second SoftBank Vision Funds established in 2017 and 2019, has been described as one reliant on the greater fool theory. A controversial figure, Son has been mocked by some specialized media and dubbed the worst investor ever. As of September 2022, Son ranks 73rd on the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires 2022, despite having the distinction of losing the most money in history (approximately $70bn during the dot com crash of 2000). Son was named the world's 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People.