Masayoshi Son Bio
Masayoshi Son (born Masayoshi Yasumoto; 11 August 1957) is a Japanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist best known as the founder, representative director, chairman, and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group. A Zainichi Korean by origin, he moved to the United States as a teenager, graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and returned to Japan to found SoftBank in 1981. Son gained international prominence after an early $20 million investment in Group and later established the SoftBank Vision Fund to back technology startups, a strategy that produced both transformative gains and high-profile losses. He also serves as chairman of Arm Holdings and Stargate LLC, and he lives in Tokyo with his wife and two daughters.
Early Life and Background
Early Life and Background
Masayoshi Son was born Masayoshi Yasumoto on 11 August 1957 in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, Japan, to Zainichi Korean parents. His grandfather, Son Jong-kyung, had moved to Japan from Daegu during the Japanese colonial period and worked as a miner, while his father, Son Sam-heon, raised pigs and chickens and built the family home on land owned by the Japanese National Railways. His father also started an illegal sake business that became successful enough for the family to become the first in town to own a car. Throughout his childhood, his family refrained from using their Korean names, and Son experienced bullying and discrimination for his Korean background.
As a teenager, Son idolized Den Fujita, the founder of McDonald’s Japan, and eventually traveled to Tokyo to meet him unannounced. Fujita advised Son to study English and computer science and to pursue education in the United States. Following that advice, Son dropped out of high school in Japan and, at age 16, moved to Oakland, California. He studied English at Holy Names College, graduated from Serramonte High School in three weeks, and later enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied economics and graduated in 1980.
While still a student at Berkeley, Son began his first business ventures. With the help of professors including Forrest Mozer, he created an electronic translator that he sold to Sharp Corporation for $1.7 million. He earned another $1.5 million by importing used video game machines from Japan on credit and installing them in dormitories and restaurants, and he also started a video game company called Unison World in Oakland, which he sold for $2 million. After returning to Japan, he adopted the Korean surname Son for professional purposes, a decision considered by many as a milestone for ethnic Koreans in Japan.
Path to Founder and CEO of SoftBank Group
After completing his education in the United States, Masayoshi Son returned to Japan with the goal of building a technology business. Drawing on the experience he had gained distributing software and video games in California, he founded SoftBank in 1981 as a software distributor and a publisher of computer-related books and magazines. The company grew quickly during the personal computing boom of the 1980s and expanded into telecommunications in the 1990s and 2000s. Over time, SoftBank morphed from a telecom operator into a global technology-focused investment holding company.
Son established himself as a bold global investor with early stakes in internet firms, including Yahoo! in 1995 and a $20 million investment in in 1999, the latter of which grew into one of the most successful venture investments in history. He also acquired a controlling stake in the mobile carrier SoftBank Corp. and, in 2016, led SoftBank’s £24 billion acquisition of British chip designer Arm Holdings. These moves set the stage for his position as chairman and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, a role he continues to hold.
Masayoshi Son Career
Early Career (1981–1999)
Masayoshi Son founded SoftBank in 1981 as a software distributor and a publisher of computer-related books and magazines in Japan. Under his leadership, the company grew rapidly alongside the personal computing industry of the 1980s and began to expand into new technology markets. By the mid-1990s, SoftBank had become a significant player in internet and telecommunications services.
In 1995, Son bought a share of Yahoo! and established Yahoo! Japan, which he continued to control for many years. In 1999, he made his $20 million investment in , a young Chinese startup founded by Jack Ma. The investment would later become the cornerstone of Son’s reputation as a global technology investor, even as SoftBank’s share price suffered during the dot-com crash of 2000.
Yahoo! and Breakthrough (1995–2014)
Son’s investment in Yahoo! in 1995 and his $20 million stake in in 1999 defined his early reputation as a technology investor. SoftBank came to own 29.5% of , and by 23 October 2018 that stake was valued at around $108.7 billion. After ‘s initial public offering in 2014, the value of Son’s early investment reached roughly $75 billion and contributed significantly to SoftBank’s financial success.
Son was briefly the richest person in the world before the stock market crashed, and his holding company SoftBank accumulated significant equity in internet and broadband businesses, including Yahoo! BB and Japan Telecom. However, a severe devaluation of SoftBank’s equity during the dot-com era forced him to refocus on broadband services. Despite these challenges, the investment established Son as one of the most influential technology investors of his generation.
Global Investor Era (2016–Present)
In July 2016, immediately after the United Kingdom’s Brexit referendum, SoftBank announced its plan to acquire Arm Holdings for £23.4 billion, the largest-ever purchase of a European technology company at that time, and the deal was completed in September 2016. In 2017, Son established the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund to invest in artificial intelligence, robotics, and internet-of-things startups, followed by a second Vision Fund in 2019 with a target of $108 billion.
The Vision Fund era produced both major gains and major losses, including high-profile write-downs on companies such as WeWork, OneWeb, Wirecard, OYO Rooms, Katerra, and Greensill Capital. In the financial year ending 31 March 2022, the first Vision Fund posted a record ¥3.5 trillion loss. From 2023 onward, Son announced a strategic shift toward artificial intelligence infrastructure and semiconductor-related investments, and in January 2025 he was named chairman of Stargate LLC, an American artificial-intelligence infrastructure joint venture formed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle Corporation, and MGX.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Son’s signature achievements are the £24 billion acquisition of Arm Holdings in 2016, the founding of the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund in 2017, and his appointment as chairman of Stargate LLC in January 2025. He was placed 45th on the Forbes list of the World’s Most Powerful People in 2013 and was named Entrepreneur of the Year at The Asian Awards in 2017. In 2024, Son was included in Time’s 100 Most Influential People in AI list.
Masayoshi Son Career Wins
Masayoshi Son’s career is defined by a series of high-profile investment wins and strategic achievements that established him as one of the most influential technology investors in the world.
Career Highlights
Son’s most celebrated win was his $20 million investment in in 1999, which grew to be worth roughly $75 billion by 2014 following ‘s initial public offering. Other major wins include the £24 billion acquisition of Arm Holdings in 2016 and the creation of the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund in 2017. As of December 2022, Son held a 34.2% stake in SoftBank Group, making him the company’s largest shareholder.
Other Wins & Achievements
Son has also been recognized for his philanthropy and public influence, including his Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards in 2017 and his inclusion in Time’s 100 Most Influential People in AI list in 2024. He also led SoftBank’s response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 by investing in a nationwide solar power network for Japan and announced a 200-gigawatt solar development planned for Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030. As of May 2025, Son ranks 65th on the Forbes list of The World’s Billionaires and 177th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Masayoshi Son Family
Family Background and Business Lineage
Masayoshi Son is the second oldest of four brothers. His youngest brother, Taizo Son, is a serial entrepreneur and investor who founded GungHo Online Entertainment and the venture capital firm Mistletoe. Son is also the owner of the SoftBank Hawks, a professional Japanese baseball team.
Personal Life
Masayoshi Son met his wife, Masami Ohno, the daughter of a prominent Japanese doctor, while both were students at the University of California, Berkeley. They married in 1979 and have two daughters. He lives in Tokyo in a three-story mansion valued at US$85 million and also owns a home near Silicon Valley in Woodside, California, that cost him $117 million.