Masayoshi Son: Is there a single family office?

Where does the fortune of Masayoshi Son come from?

Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor, and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of the Japanese holding company SoftBank and chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings. Softbank is a multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo and owns stakes in many technology, energy, and financial companies. It operates broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, internet, technology services, finance, media and marketing, semiconductor design, and other areas. Furthermore, Softbank runs Vision Fund, the world’s largest technology-focused venture capital fund, with over $100 billion in capital. His successful investment strategies secured Masayoshi Son the 2nd place of the most richest people in Japan with an estimated net worth of $32.7 billion.

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How did Son’s company Softbank develop?

SoftBank was founded in September 1981 by the then 24-year-old Masayoshi Son, originally as a software distributor. It entered the publishing business in May 1982 with the launch of two computer magazines. The company went on to become Japan’s largest publisher of computer and technology magazines and trade shows. The company went public in 1994 and was valued at $3 billion. In the 1990s, Son made major forays into Internet services.  Two years later, SoftBank formed a joint venture with the up-and-coming Yahoo to create Yahoo Japan, which would become a dominant site in the country. 1999 Softbank became a holding company with its most successful internet investment: Alibaba. The $20 million investment turned into $60 billion when Alibaba went public in 2014. Over the years, Softbank has acquired a large number of different companies in all kinds of industries (Vodafone Japan, Supercell, Boston Dynamics, etc.) and has become one of the world’s most successful conglomerate holding companies, although it is currently struggling with the effects of the Covid-19 crisis. Softbank has revenues of more than $56 billion and employs more than 80,000 people.

Is there a Masayoshi Son family office?

Yes. Although Softbank Holding’s investments are not 100% limited to Masayoshi Son’s funds, Softbank serves as his personal family investment office through which all of his various types of investments (private equity, venture capital and real estate) are made and held.

How does the Masayoshi Son family office invest?

Sons company Softbank’s investment arm focuses on many different asset classes: venture capital, private equity, real estate and capital markets. Key areas of interest include telecommunications, e-commerce, internet, technology services, finance, media, marketing and semiconductors. Past successful investments include Softbank and Yahoo, and recent portfolio companies include Grab, Uber and Oyo. In addition, Masayoshi is committed to investing in a nationwide solar power network for Japan, having criticised the nuclear industry in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. In March 2018, it was announced that Son was investing in the largest solar project to date, a 200GW development planned for Saudi Arabia.

This article is part of our detailed report “The Single Family Offices of Asian Billionaires and HNWIs“.

Picture source: Alex Knight