Masayoshi Son was born in Tosu, Saga, Japan on 11 August 1957, of Korean descent. He is probably best known as the current chairman of Sprint Corporation, and the founder and chief executive officer of Softbank Japan.
A respected businessman, computer scientist and philanthropist, just how rich is Masayoshi Son? Sources estimate that he is the 2nd richest man in Japan, with a net worth of over $20 billion as of early 2017, accumulated largely through his business deals in the telecom and mobile internet industries. Among his assets are the Tiffany Building, a 10 story commercial building in Tokyo worth $326 million, and a house in Woodside California, which he reputedly purchased for over $100 million.
Masayoshi Son Net Worth $20 billion
Masayoshi was born to Korean parents, who moved to Japan when he was young, and his family adopted the Japanese surname Yasumoto to fit in; studied in Kurume University Senior High School. A turning point in his life was when he met the president of McDonald’s Japan, Den Fujita, and was inspired by the man, who advised him to take up computer science and to be proficient in English. Masayoshi moved to California at age 16, and finished high school at Serramonte High School in Northern California. He spent two years at Holy Names, a Catholic University, before transferring to University of California, Berkeley where he majored in economics and computer science, graduating in 1980.
Masayoshi’s business pursuits started at 19 years old – he had a system of producing one business idea a day, and this resulted to many inventions and patents. He invented a translating device which Sharp Electronics bought for $450,000, and he started the company Unison in Oakland, California, which has been bought by Kyocera. His successes piled up one after the other, and he founded SoftBank, a mobile and internet company in Japan. He also established and had a controlling interest in Yahoo! Broadband in 2001. His flourishing business expanded, and he acquired Japan Telecom and Vodafone K. K. In 2013, Masayoshi managed to keep Sprint Nextel afloat, acquiring it for $22 billion through his company Softbank. He bought a 76% ownership of Sprint at that time, and he subsequently bought more equity which now stands at 80%. He also has a stake in the Chinese e-commerce group Alibaba, and microchip maker Arm. Continued success in these mobile and internet industries have contributed to the increased net worth of Masayoshi Son.
In his personal life, Masayoshi married Masami Ohno, and has two children. He is a well-known philanthropist, active in helping relief efforts to disaster stricken communities. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and Tsunami, Masayoshi donated $120 million, and pledged his salary until his retirement. In 2012, his company Softbank donated $500,000 to the American Red Cross in order to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy in North America. As for health related causes, Masayoshi also took part in the Ice Bucket Challenge to spread awareness against ALS or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a deadly neurodegenerative disease which affects the brain.
