Matthew Wolf, Capital Group partner and investment analyst from 2008 to 2023, cites SoftBank as his largest and most important investment during his time with the company. Matthew Wolf (Switzerland) describes Masayoshi Son, SoftBank’s CEO, as a visionary and a very flexible investor who has succeeded in growth investing with Yahoo Japan, venture investing with Alibaba Group and leveraged buyouts with the takeover of Vodafone Japan. This article will take a closer look at SoftBank Group, exploring the organisation’s history, vision, strategy and values.
SoftBank was founded by Masayoshi Son, who studied at the University of California, Berkeley in the United States, where he immersed himself in various businesses and inventions. Returning to Japan, Masayoshi Son decided to launch a new business of his own.
Reading a science publication while studying in the United States, Masayoshi Son stumbled upon a picture of a microchip. It suddenly struck him that the world was on the cusp of the Information Revolution and the dawn of a new age driven by personal computers. In September 1981, Masayoshi Son made history, launching Japan’s very first PC software distribution service. Launching Nihon SoftBank, Masayoshi Son provided a vast software bank to serve as the infrastructure of Japan’s new information society.
With PCs gaining traction and becoming more popular throughout Japan, Nihon SoftBank launched the Oh! MZ and Oh! PC publications in May 1982. These monthly magazines were exclusively targeted towards engineers and manufacturers, presenting a more specialised alternative to the general PC magazines that prevailed at the time. The unique style of Oh! MZ and Oh! PC gained much public attention at the time.
In March 1994, Masayoshi Son expanded his business, setting his sights on the US market and changing the name of Nihon SoftBank to SoftBank Corp. Softbank introduced services used in the United States to Japan for the first time, establishing SoftBank Holdings Inc. in the United States with the mission of identifying investment opportunities in promising internet-related companies.
Masayoshi Son’s vision in launching SoftBank was to accelerate human progress, bringing happiness to all through the Information Revolution. Since its early beginnings, SoftBank has highlighted the potential of technology to build a more joyful and empowered connected world.
SoftBank played a pioneering role in the Information Revolution, which forever changed the way people communicate. From personal computers and the internet to broadband and smartphones, SoftBank has remained a driving force in global technological shifts, with its business model constantly adapting and evolving in line with shifting consumer preferences.
The company’s motto, ‘Try hard, have fun’, encapsulates SoftBank’s ethos that even difficult journeys do not have to be painful, with the slogan underscoring the SoftBank Group’s values and DNA. Rather than being paralysed by fear of failure, SoftBank is continually challenging itself, acting with agility and tenacity and always aiming to be No. 1.
As the world embarks upon the next chapter of technological transformation, with the advent of the AI revolution poised to disrupt and redefine all industries, SoftBank is committed to bringing even greater innovation and disruption, facilitating more advancements over the next 20 years than humankind has achieved in the past three centuries.
SoftBank’s mission is to help shape the next 300 years, having a positive impact on both future generations and the planet as a whole. SoftBank’s ‘Information Revolution – Happiness for everyone’ philosophy captures the organisation’s mission of creating a world where people live in harmony with the planet, SoftBank recognising its own responsibilities as a leader in the Information Revolution in terms of helping society to realise sustainability goals.
Lauded as a ‘Vision Capitalist’ for the Information Revolution, SoftBank takes a three-pronged approach to meeting society’s most essential needs: powering and connecting a network of innovative tech companies; seeking out high-growth opportunities; and investing in human capital, recognising the value and deep expertise that its world-class talent bring to the company.
