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© European Union, 2025, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Source: EC - Audiovisual Service. Cropped. · Wikimedia Commons, 'Masayoshi Son (P066533-522034, cropped).jpg' -- photograph by the European Commission Audiovisual Service, taken 12 May 2025 at SoftBank Group headquarters in Tokyo during a visit by Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen (EC Audiovisual Service item P-066533/00-07). The Audiovisual Service's conditions-of-use page states that EU-owned content is licensed under CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise indicated; the item page shows no individual notice that overrides it. The Commons file carries an EC Audiovisual Center licence tag (checked by a Commons user on 25 July 2025). Cropped file 847 x 1117 pixels, used at original size with no upscaling. · CC BY 4.0
entrepreneur · Contemporary
Masayoshi Son
b. 1957
Known For
entrepreneurialtechnological
Not yet included in personality matching — the documented evidence doesn't yet cover enough of the personality model. Everything else on this page is fully available.
Trait Constellation
Key Achievements
Founded SoftBank in 1981 with the proceeds of a sound-translation device he sold to Sharp, and led it from software distribution into Yahoo Japan, broadband and, with the 2006 Vodafone Japan purchase, mobile telecoms.
Made an early investment in Alibaba, US$20 million in 2000 according to Reuters, which Britannica calls among his most consequential early investments; by 2019 Reuters said SoftBank's 26 percent stake was worth more than SoftBank's own market capitalisation.
Launched the SoftBank Vision Fund in 2017, a US$100 billion technology fund that took large stakes in dozens of startups and, Reuters and CNBC reported, lost about US$18 billion in the year to March 2020 as WeWork and Uber fell.
Moments That Reveal Them
He called the US$20 billion, mostly debt-funded 2006 purchase of Vodafone Japan a 'crazy bet' made while SoftBank was losing about US$1 billion a year, saying 'sometimes craziness gives a good return.'
This is consistent with committing very large, leveraged sums to a bet he himself described as crazy. Risk Tolerance
At the May 2020 earnings presentation he said, 'I've been admitting that several times I was foolish' about investing in WeWork, as SoftBank valued it at US$2.9 billion against US$47 billion a year earlier.
This is consistent with publicly acknowledging a costly mistake, though he continued to emphasise his instinct-led approach. Belief Updating
Turning Points
In 2017 SoftBank set up the Vision Fund, shifting the group toward global technology investing, which Britannica says made Son one of the most closely scrutinised figures in technology finance.
This is consistent with reshaping the group's strategy around a new, much larger kind of bet. Adaptability
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Sources
- Masayoshi Son (Q717038) -- verified live via the Wikidata API (2026-10-25): English label 'Masayoshi Son', description 'Japanese businessman', born 11 August 1957, no date of death, instance of human. Orientation only; not used as support for any row.
- Teiji Shimizu, 'Son Masayoshi', Encyclopaedia Britannica (Britannica Money), updated 9 October 2026 -- reference biography: the sound-translation device sold to Sharp and the 1981 founding of SoftBank, 1990s acquisitions financed by bonds, Yahoo Japan, the dot-com losses of 2000, the 2006 Vodafone KK purchase, Alibaba, Sprint, the 2017 Vision Fund and the later focus on AI. CANONICAL SIGNIFICANCE SOURCE. Read in full; the early-life and family passages were not used. Britannica gives his birth date as 31 August 1957 where SoftBank and Wikidata give 11 August; only the year is used here.
- Lauren Feiner (CNBC), 'SoftBank values WeWork at $2.9 billion, down from $47 billion a year ago', 18 May 2020 -- report on SoftBank's earnings presentation: Son calling the WeWork investment foolish, WeWork valuation figures, the Vision Fund's loss of about US$18 billion, and Son's prediction that about 15 of 88 portfolio companies could go bankrupt. Independent business-news report quoting his earnings-call remarks. Read in full.
- Reuters, "SoftBank boss: 'Losses won't stop me fighting'", 6 December 2019, as published by Arab News -- wire report of Son's on-stage discussion with Jack Ma at the University of Tokyo: the US$20 million Alibaba investment of 2000 and the stake now worth more than SoftBank's market capitalisation, Son's statement that the decision was driven by gut feeling, Ma's account that Son first tried to invest US$50 million and his remark about Son's 'guts', Son's admission about misjudging WeWork's founder. Wire report built mostly on the two men's own statements; Ma is an ally. Read in full.
- Reuters (via Al Jazeera), 'Softbank posts worst losses ever as Jack Ma departs board', 18 May 2020 -- wire report on SoftBank's record loss, the US$18 billion Vision Fund shortfall including almost US$10 billion at WeWork and Uber, the loan raised against the Alibaba stake, pressure from activist investor Elliott Management over buybacks and governance, and Son's subdued presentation. Independent wire report with a critical angle. Read in full to the point of the portfolio breakdown.
- Mobile World Live, 'SoftBank CEO sees crazy bet pay off', 4 March 2011 -- trade-press report on a conference talk in which Son called the US$20 billion, mostly debt-funded 2006 Vodafone Japan purchase a 'crazy bet' made while SoftBank was losing about US$1 billion a year after the dot-com collapse, and argued for betting more aggressively than competitors. Trade press relaying his own account with operator statistics; figures for the deal vary between sources (Britannica gives no price) so only his statement is used. Read in full.
- Peter Walker (FStech), 'Softbank Vision Fund loses $17.7bn as unicorns falter', 19 May 2020 -- trade-press summary of the same earnings briefing: breakdown of Vision Fund losses (Uber about US$5.2 billion, WeWork US$4.6 billion, US$7.5 billion elsewhere), SoftBank's first annual operating loss in 15 years and its plan to sell about US$41 billion of assets. Independent, concise; used to cross-check figures. Read in full.
- SoftBank Group Corp., 'Biography: Masayoshi Son' (officer profile, as of 24 June 2026) -- company's own career chronology: founding of Nihon SoftBank in 1981, director of Alibaba.com from 2005, Vodafone K.K. from 2006. Company self-description; used only to cross-check dates, never for trait claims. Read in full.