Which Japanese billionaire founded the investment conglomerate SoftBank?

Masayoshi Son founded SoftBank. He established the company in 1981 in Japan as a distributor of computer software and publisher of computer-related magazines, long before it became a global investment powerhouse.

Son built the business by spotting growth in personal computing, telecommunications, and the internet. SoftBank expanded into technology distribution and communications, eventually becoming a major shareholder and investor in internet companies around the world.

His most famous early investment was a $20 million stake in Alibaba, made when the Chinese company was still a young startup. The value of that investment grew dramatically after Alibaba’s rise and public offering, helping transform Son’s reputation and SoftBank’s financial scale.

The company’s name can cause confusion: SoftBank Group is Son’s investment holding company, while SoftBank Corp. is its Japanese telecommunications subsidiary. Tadashi Yanai founded Fast Retailing, Hiroshi Mikitani founded Rakuten, and neither is SoftBank’s founder.