Telecoms and internet
SoftBank ソフトバンク
A software shop turned tech investor
Masayoshi Son started SoftBank in 1981 as a distributor of PC software. It grew through bold bets: Yahoo Japan, Vodafone's Japanese phone business, the iPhone in Japan and a huge investment in China's Alibaba.
- Founded
- 1981
- Shōwa 56
- Founder
- Masayoshi Son
- Started in
- Tokyo
- Status
- Still trading
- Age 45 years
Timeline
-
1981 (Shōwa 56)
Founded in Tokyo as a software distributor.
-
1996 (Heisei 8)
Sets up Yahoo Japan with Yahoo.
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2006 (Heisei 18)
Buys Vodafone's Japanese mobile business.
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2016 (Heisei 28)
Buys the British chip designer Arm.
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2017 (Heisei 29)
Launches the Vision Fund to invest in tech start-ups.
Years in brackets are the Japanese era year. Japanese era converter →
Did you know?
Son invested about $20 million in Alibaba in 2000, a stake later worth tens of billions of dollars.
Dates follow the companies' own published histories where available. Trademarks belong to their owners; this page is not affiliated with any company listed.