SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son is in the news once more. His recent investment decisions and the inflammatory statements are raising quite a stir. His candid comments regarding the murder of Virginia-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi have sent shivers through many investors. Remarkable financial maneuvers in his Dubai courtship have entranced the investment community.
At a recent press conference, Son called Khashoggi’s murder a “horrific and deeply regrettable” crime. His words reveal a deep-seated and relentless clash of business interests and moral arguments in his interactions, particularly with Saudi Arabia. In the face of that tragedy, Son resolutely insisted that SoftBank should not “turn our backs on the Saudi people.” In it, he highlighted the complex relationship between the company and its Arab investors.
Son’s track record of visionary, risky investments have previously come with large payoffs and defaults. The world-famous example was his incredible foresight in investing $20 million in Alibaba in 2000 after a mere six-minute meeting with Jack Ma. In hindsight this was an incredibly profitable call, as his share would swell to an unbelievable value of $150 billion by 2020. His journey has certainly hit a lot of rough air. At the same time that he made the $70 billion in personal Silicon Valley losses, SoftBank’s market cap plummeted from a high of $180 billion to an astounding $2.5 billion.
Now 68, Son isn’t done with his high-wire acts. His recent move to sell his entire $5.8 billion share in Nvidia has caused a bit of a buzz. Analysts have pointed out that this move should not be interpreted as a bearish or shytanum on Nvidia itself. Instead, it marks Son’s ambition to fully embrace artificial intelligence, signaling a strategic pivot towards technology that promises to shape the future.
Plus, Son loaded the dice with a huge, hedge fund y bet on Uber, which has produced odious paper losses for years. He even overruled the judgment of his own top lieutenants to make a disastrous $1 billion investment in WeWork. In early 2019, he gave the company an incredible valuation of $47 billion. Not long after, SoftBank took a $4 billion stake in WeWork, only to sell that stake off for $3.6 billion later that same year.
Son’s high-profile decisions highlight his enthusiasm for risky business. He really lives out the Never Half Ass Anything philosophy. He’s working on a third act of his own after recent misfires. Industry watchers interested in Ford’s radical redesign are most curious about his talent for thriving in disruptive markets.
Son’s unconventional approach to investments has drawn equal measures of praise and disapproval. He has suffered historic defeats before. His overall desire to embrace new technology is what still draws the headlines. The whole tech landscape is on red alert. Everyone is genuinely excited to understand how SoftBank will reimagine its portfolio in this deflated and unpredictable market environment.