1. Masayoshi Son is an entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist from Japan.
25 Facts About Masayoshi Son
1. 2.
Masayoshi Son is known for his bold investment strategies, sometimes resulting in major losses, particularly with the first and second SoftBank Vision Funds.
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In 2013, Son was placed 45th on the Forbes magazine's list of the World's Most Powerful People.
4.
Masayoshi Son had for many years the distinction of being the person who had lost the most money in history, a feat surpassed by Elon Musk in the following decades.
5.
Masayoshi Son was born Masayoshi Yasumoto on August 11,1957 in Tosu, Saga Prefecture to Zainichi Korean parents.
6.
Masayoshi Son's father started an illegal sake business that eventually became successful enough for his family to become the first people in town to own a car.
7.
Masayoshi Son idolized businessman Den Fujita, the founder of McDonald's Japan, and attempted to contact him multiple times with no avail.
8.
Fujita advised Masayoshi Son to begin studying English as well as computer science, and to move to the United States for education.
9.
Masayoshi Son subsequently enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied economics and computer science, graduating in 1980.
10.
Masayoshi Son began his first business endeavours while still a student.
11.
Masayoshi Son made another $1.5 million by importing used video game machines from Japan, on credit and installing them in dormitories and restaurants.
12.
Masayoshi Son started a video game company called Unison World in Oakland.
13.
In June 2020, Masayoshi Son stepped down from the Alibaba board.
14.
In March 2018, it was announced that Masayoshi Son was investing in the biggest ever solar project, a 200GW development planned for Saudi Arabia as part of its Vision 2030.
15.
In July 2018, coverage indicated that Masayoshi Son "would underwrite most of 100 GW" of a planned 275 GW of new renewable provision in India by 2027.
16.
Masayoshi Son claimed he would make personal connections with the CEOs of all companies funded by Vision Fund in order to enhance the creation of intertwined synergies among those companies.
17.
Masayoshi Son planned to raise $100 billion for a new fund every few years, investing about $50 billion a year in startups.
18.
Masayoshi Son became noted as a stock investor after the meteoric rise of Alibaba Group.
19.
Masayoshi Son had invested $20 million in Jack Ma's Alibaba back in 2000 when it was a young Chinese startup company although regrettably passing up early opportunities to invest in both Amazon and Tesla.
20.
Masayoshi Son was named chairman of The Stargate Project, an American artificial intelligence infrastructure joint venture formed by SoftBank, OpenAI, Oracle Corporation and MGX, in January 2025.
21.
Masayoshi Son met his wife, Masami Ohno, the daughter of a prominent Japanese doctor, while both were students at the University of California, Berkeley.
22.
Masayoshi Son has bought a home near Silicon Valley in Woodside, California, that cost him $117 million.
23.
Masayoshi Son owns the SoftBank Hawks, a professional Japanese baseball team.
24.
Masayoshi Son has three brothers and is the second oldest of the siblings.
25.
Masayoshi Son's youngest brother, Taizo Son, is a serial entrepreneur and investor, having founded GungHo Online Entertainment and the venture capital firm Mistletoe.