Masayoshi Son (born Masayoshi Yasumoto on August 11, 1957) is a prominent Japanese entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known as the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of SoftBank Group, a global technology-focused investment conglomerate. Renowned for his aggressive investment strategies and long-term vision, Son is a central figure in the global venture capital landscape, having fundamentally shaped Japan’s technology and telecommunications sectors. Born in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, Japan, Son is a third-generation Zainichi Korean. His family roots trace back to the Japanese colonial period, during which his grandfather migrated to Japan as an economic migrant. Growing up, his family faced significant societal discrimination, which prompted them to adopt the Japanese surname Yasumoto. In his youth, Son demonstrated early entrepreneurial instincts and a drive for success. At the age of 16, he relocated to the United States, finishing high school in Oakland, California, and subsequently enrolling at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he studied economics and computer science, graduating in 1980. During his student years, Son exhibited his inventiveness by developing an electronic translator, which he successfully sold to Sharp Corporation for approximately $1.7 million. Upon returning to Japan in 1981, Son founded SoftBank, initially operating as a software distributor and publisher for the burgeoning personal computer market. Over the following decades, he transformed the company into a diversified multinational holding firm. SoftBank’s trajectory was marked by early, highly lucrative investments in internet-era companies, most notably a $20 million investment in Alibaba Group in 2000. This stake grew into one of the most profitable investments in history, providing the capital necessary to propel SoftBank’s subsequent global expansions. Son’s investment philosophy is characterized by a "cluster of No. 1s" strategy—aiming to acquire dominant stakes in market leaders across various technology sectors, including telecommunications, artificial intelligence, and e-commerce. In 2017, he solidified this approach by launching the SoftBank Vision Fund, an unprecedented venture capital vehicle backed by major sovereign wealth funds and global tech giants. The Vision Fund allowed Son to deploy capital at an unmatched scale, taking significant positions in companies such as Uber, DoorDash, ARM Holdings, and various AI startups. While these high-risk, high-reward bets have occasionally resulted in significant volatility—including major losses during the dot-com crash and subsequent market downturns—Son’s reputation for resilience and his long-term "300-year plan" for SoftBank have remained defining features of his leadership. In his personal life, Son is a naturalized Japanese citizen. He met his wife, Masami Ohno, while studying at UC Berkeley, and the couple has two daughters. He is an avid proponent of technological advancement, often emphasizing the potential of artificial intelligence to revolutionize the future of humanity. Beyond his business interests, he is a notable figure in Japanese culture, having owned the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks professional baseball team. Today, Son continues to helm SoftBank Group, pivoting the conglomerate increasingly toward the AI infrastructure sector, including major collaborations aimed at advancing generative AI technology and large-scale computing capacity. His legacy is that of a bold financier who bridged the gap between traditional Japanese industry and the volatile, high-growth global technology market.