Insights · July 21st, 2022
Masayoshi Son is a wildly successful and controversial Japanese entrepreneur who served as chairman and CEO of Softbank Corp, a media and telecommunications company he founded in 1981. Son used SoftBank and its $100 billion Vision Fund – one of the world’s ;largest – to remake the world in what it believed would be important for our futures.
When thinking about futures I often refer to Asia and countries like Japan having unfaltering visions for 1000+ year businesses. Son’s 300 year business plan seems to lay foundational ideas out to support these ideas, and he starts with the next 30 years:
The Unicorn Hunter: The Craziest Billionaire EVER
Masayoshi Son was once the richest man in the world… for 3 whole days – and then he lost about $70 billion dollars almost overnight, the biggest personal loss in history. He once managed to secure $45 billion worth of funding after a 45 minute meeting. He’s also responsible for the single greatest investment ever made. But on the other hand, many feel he’s simply a crazy gambler who treats the economy like a casino, and that he’s causing catastrophic damage to the economy.
This is a man who once threatened to set himself on fire if he didn’t get a business deal. A man who has invested billions of dollars in entrepreneurs purely based on gut instinct or the sparkle in their eyes. And yet, I love him… You see, I’ve recently been making videos telling the stories of totally different businesses, like Uber, Yahoo, Tiktok – and yet Masa Son always seems to be connected. I feel like I’m in that movie where Jim Carey starts seeing the number 23 everywhere, but for me, all roads lead to the investor Masa Son. The majority of the world know extremely little about this man. But they should. He is quite literally changing the economy/world, and betting on our future. And his story is one of the most fascinating I’ve ever heard. It’s inspiring. It’s terrifying. And most of all, it’s absolutely INSANE…
Welcome to the story of Masayoshi Son (The Masa Son Documentary). Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor or just someone who enjoys crazy business & finance stories / making money, you’re going to love Masayoshi Son’s biography. We explore some of his investments, businesses, and investing philosophy.
Reach out to Nikolas to discuss design fiction, explore how a futures keynote can ignite your event, or discuss your strategic foresight project. You can also see more about Nikolas at nikolasbadminton.com.
______
Article image by Danny Choo – CC BY-SA 2.0
