Masayoshi Son (Japanese: ? ??, Hepburn: Son Masayoshi, Korean: ??? Son Jeong-ui; born August 11, 1957) is a Japanese businessman of Korean descent who is the founder and current chief executive officer of Japanese telecommunications corporation SoftBank, the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile, current chairman of Sprint Corporation and chairman of Arm Holdings. According to Forbes magazine, Son's estimated net worth is US $23 billion and he is the richest man in Japan, despite having the distinction of losing the most money in history (approximately $70bn during the dot com crash of 2000). Forbes also describes him as a philanthropist.
Son was named the world's 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People in 2013.
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Early life and education
Ethnically Korean, Son's grandparents immigrated to Japan from Korea. Son was born in a small town on Japan's southern island Kyushu.
Son's family adopted the Japanese surname Anmoto (??), trying to avoid the discrimination that Koreans were subject to in Japan at that period, and Son used this surname as a child. Son pursued his interests in business by securing a meeting with Japan McDonald's president Den Fujita. Taking his advice, Son began studying English and computer science.
At age 16, Son moved from Japan to California and finished high school in three weeks at Serramonte High while staying with friends and family in South San Francisco. After spending two years at Holy Names University, he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he majored in economics and studied computer science. Enamoured by a microchip featured in a magazine, Son at age 19 became confident that computer technology would ignite the next commercial revolution.
His first business endeavours began while being a student. With the help of some professors, Son invented an electronic translator that he sold to Sharp Corporation for $1.7 million. He made another $1.5 million by importing used video game machines from Japan, on credit, and installing them in dormitories and restaurants.
Son graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics in 1980, and started Unison in Oakland, California, which has since been bought by Kyocera. Son decided to use his Korean-style surname Son when he came back to Japan to become a role model for ethnic Korean children there.
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Yahoo! and Alibaba
Son was an early investor in internet firms, buying a share of Yahoo! in 1995 and investing $20 Million in the Alibaba stake in 1999. Although SoftBank's stake in Yahoo! had dwindled to 7%, Son established Yahoo! BroadBand in September 2001 with Yahoo! Japan in which he still owned a controlling interest. After a severe devaluation of SoftBank's equity, Son was forced to focus his attention on Yahoo! BB and BB Phone. So far, SoftBank has accumulated about $1.3 billion in debt. Yet, Yahoo! BB acquired Japan Telecom, the then third largest broadband and landline provider with 600,000 residential and 170,000 commercial subscribers. Yahoo! BB is now Japan's leading broadband provider.
Vodafone K. K.
On March 17, 2006, Vodafone Group announced it had agreed to sell Vodafone K.K. to SoftBank for approximately 1.75 trillion Japanese yen (approximately US$15.1 billion). On April 14, 2006, SoftBank and Vodafone K. K. jointly announced, that the brand and company name Vodafone will be changed to a "new, easy-to-understand and familiar company name and brand". Masayoshi Son is the CEO (Representative Director) of Vodafone K. K.
ARM
In July 2016 SoftBank announced its plan to acquire ARM Holdings for £23.4 billion ($31.4 billion) which had to be the biggest ever purchase of a European technology company. In September 2016 SoftBank announced that the transaction is complete. The total acquisition price was approximately £24 billion ($31 billion).
Sprint Corporation
Through SoftBank Masayoshi Son bought 76% in Sprint. SoftBank has further accumulated shares in Sprint (S); to about 80% ownership.
Investment in solar power
In response to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011, Masayoshi Son criticized the nuclear industry for creating "the problem that worries Japanese the most today", and engaged in investing in a nationwide solar power network for Japan.
Personal Life
He met his wife, Masami Ohno, while in university. They have two daughters.
Philanthropy
In 2011 Masayoshi Son pledged to donate 10 billion yen ($120 million) and his remaining salary until retirement to help support victims of 2011 T?hoku earthquake and tsunami.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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