Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of Japanese multinational funding firm SoftBank Group, is among the richest folks on this planet.

Son just lately introduced SB OpenAI Japan, a joint venture with Open AI CEO Sam Altman to carry synthetic intelligence providers to firms in Japan. As a part of the settlement, Son can pay $3 billion to make use of OpenAI’s know-how throughout SoftBank firms. Son can also be in talks to take a position as much as $43 billion in OpenAI, which might be the most important funding in a startup ever, in keeping with The Wall Avenue Journal.

Son’s SoftBank can also be a part of a $500 billion joint venture introduced in late January by Donald Trump with Oracle and OpenAI to construct AI infrastructure in the US.

Son, thought of one of many world’s strongest traders, has invested in varied firms, together with Uber, Yahoo!, DoorDash, Alibaba, the ill-fated WeWork, and extra.

Son has an estimated internet price of $17 billion, in keeping with Bloomberg. Here is how Son made his billions.

SoftBank Group

Son based SoftBank Group in 1981 and grew it right into a conglomerate and funding large funding main startups throughout varied industries together with AI, e-commerce, robotics, satellites, advertising and marketing and finance.

Son’s wealth is pushed by his 29% stake in SoftBank. Son is the most important shareholder within the firm and owns 421,661 shares as of September 2024.

SoftBank went public in December 2018 and commenced buying and selling on the Tokyo Inventory Trade after elevating greater than $21 billion in its initial public offering (IPO).

Amongst its many acquisitions, SoftBank purchased UK-based semiconductor and chip design company, ARM Holdings (ARM), in 2016 for $31 billion. Softbank has a 90% stake in ARM, which has a market cap of $173 billion—which means Softbank’s stake within the firm is price an estimated $155 billion.

SoftBank is invested in additional than 400 tech firms reminiscent of Uber, Chime, Fanatics, Doordash, India-based meals supply platform Swiggy, Southeast Asia’s journey share firm Seize, and others by means of its AI and tech-focused funding funds, Imaginative and prescient Funds 1 and a pair of.

Actual Property

Son bought a nine-acre dwelling in Woodside, Calif., for $117.5 million in 2012, which is among the most costly properties ever offered within the state, in keeping with San Francisco Enterprise Instances. The billionaire additionally purchased the landmark Tiffany constructing in Tokyo for $326 million in 2013, in keeping with Reuters, and offered it in 2020 for an undisclosed sale worth, in keeping with Retalk Asia.