![]() ![]() However, after he returned to Japan, Son decided to use his family's original Korean surname instead. Son used his family's adopted Japanese surname for much of his childhood. He later sold the company to an associate for close to $2 million, and the company was eventually acquired by Kyocera. in Economics in 1980, and started a video game company called Unison World in Oakland, CA. He made another $1.5 million by importing used video game machines from Japan, on credit and installing them in dormitories and restaurants. With the help of some professors, Son created an electronic translator that he sold to Sharp Corporation for $1.7 million. He began his first business endeavours while still a student. At age 19, Son became confident that computer technology would ignite the next commercial revolution after being enamoured by a microchip featured in a magazine. Son attended the University of California, Berkeley. He finished high school in three weeks by taking the required exams at Serramonte High. At age 16, Son moved from Japan to California and lived with his friends and family in South San Francisco. Taking his advice, Son began studying English and computer science. Son pursued his interests in business by securing a meeting with Japan McDonald's president Den Fujita. His family eventually moved out of the neighborhood so that Son could attend a better school. His father raised pigs and chickens on that land, and started an illegal sake business that eventually became successful enough for his family to become the first people in town to own a car. His father and other Koreans illegally built their houses on land that was owned by Japan National Railways, which caused them trouble with the authorities. ![]() Son's grandfather, Son Jong-kyung, moved from Daegu to Japan during the Japanese colonial period, where he worked as a miner. Zainichi Koreans are ethnic Koreans with permanent residency or citizenship in Japan. Masayoshi Son was born as the second of four sons in Tosu (鳥栖市, Tosu-shi), a city in the eastern part of Saga Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. Son was named the world's 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People. Īs of December 2022, Son ranks 67th on the Forbes list of The World's Billionaires 2022, despite having had for many years the distinction of being the person who had lost the most money in history (more than $59bn during the dot com crash of 2000 alone, when his SoftBank shares plummeted), a feat now surpassed by Elon Musk in the following decades due to the volatile nature of the stock market, the shortcomings of financial risk and unavoidable changes in asset valuation. A controversial figure, Son has been called a gambler, mocked by some specialized media and dubbed the worst investor ever. ![]() ![]() However, after a number of high-profile setbacks, Son's investing strategy in the first and second SoftBank Vision Funds established in 20, has been described as one reliant on the greater fool theory. made him noted worldwide as a stock investor. into an investment management firm called SoftBank Group Corp. The morphing of his own telecom company SoftBank Corp. Since Son founded SoftBank in 1981, he has made many investments, but the vast majority of those deals failed, and his reputation as an investor rests almost solely on his $20 million investment in Alibaba Group in 2000, a stake that was worth $130 billion in 2018. (SBG), a strategic technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings. He is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman & CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. A 3rd generation " Zainichi Korean", he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. Masayoshi Son ( Japanese: 孫 正義, romanized: Son Masayoshi, Korean: 손정의, romanized: Son Jeong-ui) (born 11 August 1957) is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. ![]()
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