SoftBank Mobile was ranked in the 2017 Forbes Global 2000 list as the 36th largest public company in the world and the second-largest publicly traded company in Japan after Toyota.
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Logo of SoftBank Mobile is based on the flag of the Kaientai, a naval trading company founded in 1865, near the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, by Sakamoto Ryoma.
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SoftBank Mobile was founded in September 1981 as a SOFTBANK Corp by then-24-year-old Masayoshi Son, initially as a software distributor.
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In September 1995, SoftBank Mobile agreed to purchase US-based Ziff Davis publishing for $2.
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SoftBank Mobile bought COMDEX from The Interface Group on 1 April 1995 for $800 million and ZDI on 29 February 1996.
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SoftBank Mobile sold COMDEX to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis, in 2001.
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On 1 July 2013, SoftBank Mobile announced that Willcom was a wholly-owned subsidiary, after the termination of rehabilitation proceedings.
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In June 2015, SoftBank Mobile announced it would invest US$1 billion in the Korean e-commerce website Coupang as part of its overseas expansion plans.
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Meanwhile, SoftBank Mobile was renamed to SoftBank Corp, the now-former name of the company as a whole.
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On 14 February 2017, SoftBank Mobile Group agreed to buy Fortress Investment Group LLC for $3.
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In July 2019, SoftBank Mobile announced creating of a "Vision Fund 2", excluding participation from the Saudi Arabia government and including investors Apple, Foxconn, Microsoft and others.
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In November 2018, SoftBank Mobile announced it would make an IPO with the cost of share of $13.
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In December 2018, SoftBank Mobile announced its intention to invest $1 billion on ride-hailing startup Grab.
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In July 2020, SoftBank Mobile announced that it is considering to sell or IPO British chip designer Arm Holdings, which has been in a feud with the Chinese over control of its local subsidiary, but it did not have the majority ownership due to a decision made by Softbank to sell off the stake to the local partner.
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That month SoftBank Mobile sold Brightstar Corporation to Brightstar Capital Partners for an undisclosed amount.
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American chip designing company Nvidia announced plans on 13 September 2020 to acquire ARM from SoftBank Mobile, pending regulatory approval, for a value of US $40 billion in stock and cash, became the largest semiconductor acquisition to date.
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In January 2021, SoftBank Mobile sold $2 billion in Uber Technologies shares through affiliate firm SB Cayman.
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In 2010, SoftBank Mobile founded Wireless City Planning, a subsidiary that planned the development of TD-LTE networks throughout Japan.
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SoftBank Mobile operates in the eco-power industry through its SB Energy subsidiary.
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On 4 June 2008, SoftBank Mobile announced a partnership with Apple and brought the iPhone to Japan later in 2008.
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SoftBank Mobile was the only official carrier of the iPhone in Japan until the release of iPhone 4S in 2011, when au by KDDI began to offer it.
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SoftBank Mobile partnered with the Ingress augmented reality game, supporting the branded "SoftBank Mobile Ultra Link" in-game item.
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