Masayoshi Son
Founder of SoftBank and the Vision Fund
- Age
- 69 yrs
- Birthday in 278 days
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Masayoshi Son is a Japanese businessman of Korean descent who founded SoftBank in 1981. His $20 million early bet on Alibaba became one of the most profitable investments ever. He launched the $100 billion Vision Fund, owns most of the chip designer Arm and backs the Stargate AI infrastructure project with OpenAI.
Biography
Background
Son grew up in a poor Korean-Japanese community in Kyushu. At 16 he moved to California and studied economics at UC Berkeley, where he sold a translating device to Sharp.
SoftBank
He founded SoftBank in 1981 to distribute software in Japan. It moved into publishing, Yahoo! Japan and broadband, and bought Vodafone Japan in 2006, becoming a major mobile operator, and later Sprint.
Alibaba and Arm
In 2000 he invested $20 million in Alibaba after meeting Jack Ma. In 2016 SoftBank bought Arm for £24 billion.
Vision Fund
The $100 billion Vision Fund (2017) backed WeWork, Uber and others with mixed results. Since 2023 he has bet heavily on AI, including OpenAI and the Stargate project.
Timeline
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1957
Born in Tosu, Saga, Japan
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1981
Founds SoftBank
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1996
Yahoo! Japan
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2000
Invests in Alibaba
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2006
Buys Vodafone Japan
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2016
Buys Arm
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2017
Vision Fund
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2025
Stargate project announced
Did you know?
-
1
He briefly became the world’s richest person during the dot-com boom of 2000.
-
2
He has a 300-year plan for SoftBank.
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3
He met Bill Gates and Steve Jobs early in his career.
Connections
Related people
Frequently asked
Who is Masayoshi Son?
Masayoshi Son is a Japanese businessman of Korean descent who founded SoftBank in 1981. His $20 million early bet on Alibaba became one of the most profitable investments ever. He launched the $100 billion Vision Fund, owns most of the chip designer Arm and backs the Stargate AI infrastructure project with OpenAI.
How old is Masayoshi Son?
Masayoshi Son is 69 years old, born on 11 August 1957 in Tosu, Saga, Japan.
Where is Masayoshi Son from?
Masayoshi Son was born in Tosu, Saga, Japan.
What is Masayoshi Son known for?
Masayoshi Son is best known for Founding SoftBank (1981); Alibaba investment; Vision Fund; Arm Holdings; Stargate AI project.
References
- Masayoshi Son — Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Masayoshi Son — Britannica. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Masayoshi Son — Hindi Wikipedia. Wikipedia (Hindi). Retrieved 4 November 2026.
- Masayoshi Son (Q717038) — structured data. Wikidata. Retrieved 4 November 2026.
Includes material from the Wikipedia article “Masayoshi Son”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. That text is available under the same licence. Learn more
External links
About this profile
- Researched by the TrackFame editorial team; reviewed by Sanjay Sokal under our editorial policy
- First published 4 November 2026
- Last updated
Cite this page
“Masayoshi Son.” TrackFame, last updated 5 November 2026. https://trackfame.com/person/masayoshi-son
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