In this success post, we are going to share the story of Masayoshi Son, a Japanese entrepreneur who founded SoftBank, a Multinational Telecommunications and internet corporation and is also the current chairman of Sprint Corporation.
One of the richest men in Japan, he enjoys celebrity status in the country and boasts of a massive Twitter following.
Born into a second young generation Zainichi Korean Family in Japan, Son was hardworking and ambitious from a young age. His enterprising spirit received a boost when he moved to the US for his higher studies. He studied economics and computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. It was at the time that the young man became interested in entrepreneurship, and upon his return to Japan, founded a software distribution company called Nihon SoftBank.
Masayoshi Son Childhood & Early Life
Masayoshi Son was born on the 11th of August 1957 in Tosu, Saga, Japan, into a second-gen Zainichi Korean Family.
Intelligent and curious from a young age, he was fascinated with America and went to the US for a short term study abroad program when he was 16. He then decided to quit school in Japan and moved to the US for a longer period of time.
He completed his high school and enrolled at Holy Names University. After two years, he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied economics and computer science.
During this time, he realized that computer technology would soon revolutionize the business world, and he could make a fortune out of microchips. In keeping up with this spirit, he decided to come with at least one entrepreneurial idea a day. By the end of the year, he had more than 250 ideas, some of which would translate into huge profits in future. He graduated with a BA in economics in the year 1980.
Masayoshi Son Career
Soon after completing the graduation, he started Unison in Oakland, California. The company was later sold to the Japanese multinational, Kyocera. Son then returned to Japan and started a software distribution company called Nihon SoftBank in the year 1981; the name was later shortened to SoftBank.
SoftBank attempted to enter the booming mobile market for years before it was able to buy out Vodafone Japan for around $15 billion in the year 2006. Even though Vodafone Japan was on the verge of collapse at the time of its acquisition, Son managed to establish himself as a formidable force in the Japan Mobile Industry. His SoftBank Mobile is today Japan’s most profitable telecom firm.
In the year 2013, he took over a majority of the Sprint Nextel, an American telecommunications holding company for the $22 billion, the biggest foreign acquisition by a Japanese firm to date. As of now, Sprint is the fourth-largest wireless network operator in the United States.
Masayoshi Son Philanthropic Works
Masayoshi Son is a well-known philanthropist. Following the year 2011 tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, he donated around 10 billion yen to relieved organizations and also pledged all his future salary to help support the victims.
Masayoshi Son Net Worth
Masayoshi Son has an estimated net worth of US $17.4 billion.
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