Nihon SoftBank was established in 1981 by Masayoshi Son as a software bank to serve the infrastructure of the newly emerging information society being built in Japan. In May 1982 the company launched Oh! PC and Oh! MZ magazines that exclusively targeted engineers and manufacturers, with the publications’ unique style attracting significant public attention.
Now SoftBank Group Corp., the company established Yahoo Japan Corporation through a joint investment with Yahoo! Inc. in the United States in 1996 and in 1998 split its divisions into separate companies, becoming a pure holding company the following year.
In 2016, in anticipation of the Internet of Things era, SoftBank Group Corp acquired the UK-based ARM Holdings as a subsidiary, and in 2017 the SoftBank Vision Fund was created to invest in companies with the potential to bring about an AI revolution. A new fund was later established in 2019 aiming to drive innovation via technologies in quickly developing Latin American companies.
SoftBank’s Vision
Matthew Wolf (Switzerland) believes that SoftBank’s CEO, Masayoshi Son, is a visionary; this is reflected in SoftBank’s overarching mission to become a corporate group that powers the world’s most important technologies. To achieve this, the company aims to develop a more empowered, connected and joyful world by using technology to accelerate human progress.
Those interested in the company, such as Matthew Wolf, Capital Group partner and investment analyst from 2008 to 2023, understand that SoftBank remains focused on driving the Information Revolution and advancing AI through investment in the world’s most innovative business models as well as essential technologies. The company unveiled ‘Softbank’s Next 30-Year Vision’ in 2010, which looks forward 100 years into the future.
A Sustainable Growth Strategy
SoftBank has developed a three-pronged approach to its sustainable growth strategy: building an ecosystem of portfolio companies, financial capital and human capital. In terms of the first ‘prong’, this is being achieved through SoftBank’s powering and connecting of a network of industry-shaping, innovative technology companies that contribute to each other’s growth.
Moving on to financial capital, SoftBank seeks high-growth opportunities, allowing it to achieve significant returns on its investment and subsequently return capital to shareholders and reinvest profits. Finally, the company’s human capital brings world-class talent and extensive expertise in support of SoftBank’s global portfolio.
SoftBank’s Core Values
One of the company’s core values is ‘Try hard, have fun,’ along with retaining a focus on SoftBank’s keywords – No.1, challenge, reverse planning, tenacity and speed – in order to achieve its goal to keep growing for the next 300 years.
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