Masayoshi Son, who is only 1.5 meters tall, is a god-level figure in the technology venture capital industry. He once invested in Alibaba and almost became the ruler of Alibaba. He also invested in the famous Yahoo, and was the richest man in the world for three days with his investment in Yahoo. However, now Masayoshi Son is in debt of 100 billion, and he has directly changed from the richest man to the richest man. So, how did Son fail?
In 1957, Masayoshi Son was born in Tosu City, Saga Prefecture, Japan, and his ancestral home is Putian, Fujian. At the age of 16, he went to the United States to study in high school. During his college years, 18-year-old Son decided to make up something for himself in order to earn living expenses. So, he used his break to research and invent new technologies. To this end, he gathered his classmates and boldly persuaded six professors to work for him. He promised that although he had no money now, he would give the professor a full salary once the patent was completed and sold. After many attempts, Son and his team invented the world's first pocket-sized computerized voice translator. At that time, Sasaki, who was still the director of the Sharp ** Research Institute and was known as the Japanese electronics industry's payment, took a fancy to this invention and paid Song Zhenyi 40 million yen in patent contract funds. At exchange rates, this is a contract worth $1 million. With this invention, Son reaped his first pot of gold at the age of 19.
In March 1980, after completing his studies, Son returned to Japan in search of new opportunities with UNW, the company he founded during his studies. In 1981, at the age of 24, he founded Software Bank. Within half a year of the establishment of the software bank, it dealt with 42 specialty stores and 94 software practitioners in Japan, and persuaded Toshiba and Fujitsu to invest in expansion, but lost money due to poor management. A year later, he returned the original investment funds of the consortium. Because Son took the responsibility of the loss, he won the admiration of his predecessors, and the software bank became famous since then, and also laid the credit foundation for Son's career.
In 1994, at the age of 37, Mr. Son became a billionaire and the company became a publicly traded company. Mr. Son once said that the Internet was the safest place to invest, so in five years, Mr. Son had invested in more than 450 Internet companies around the world, and under his acquisition spree, SoftBank's market value soared to $99 billion, making it the largest company in Japan. In China alone, in addition to investing in Alibaba, Shanda, Sina, Yahoo, NetEase, 8848, Dangdang, UT Starcom, Ctrip, 263, Renren, PPTV and several other companies have his presence behind him.
As Son's success in the tech sector grew, he founded Softbank in 1981 and began making massive investments around the world. His deep understanding of the internet led him to see the huge business opportunities involved. Over the next few years, he invested in more than 450 internet companies, including many well-known companies such as Yahoo, Alibaba, and others. These investments sent SoftBank's market value soaring to $99 billion, making Son one of Japan's richest people.
However, there are also huge risks hidden behind success. Son's failed investment in Supreme became the beginning of SoftBank's nightmare. Since then, SoftBank has been mired in an ongoing debt crisis. In order to save the situation, Son had to take a series of emergency measures, including ** assets and raising funds. He even had to sell his stake in Alibaba, an investment he was once proud of.
Today's investment environment has changed dramatically, and it is no longer the gambling investment of twenty or thirty years ago. Son's idealistic and business-defiant approach to investing no longer works in this day and age. However, although defeat seemed assured, Son did not give up.
On the new main battlefield, Son is trying to regain lost ground. He is still looking for new investment opportunities and trying to reverse SoftBank's decline through reform and innovation. Although the road ahead is full of challenges, Son's determination and courage remain admirable.