Tag - masayoshi-son

 
 

MASAYOSHI SON

JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Jan 4, 2020
From hangover cures to prairie dogs, tabloids end 2019 with a bang
For their final issues of December, the weeklies — their covers trimmed in gold color (except for the Sunday Mainichi, which came out in yellow-orange) — typically publish two-week bumper issues with extra pages. This gives many of them leeway to write about lots of timely topics. For instance, journalist...
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2020
A Masayoshi Son shopping list for 2020
Softbank's chief could do worse than to take this advice.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 27, 2019
Uniqlo founder Tadashi Yanai, one of the few directors to stand up to Masayoshi Son, exits SoftBank board
Fast Retailing Co. Chief Executive Officer Tadashi Yanai is leaving SoftBank Group Corp.'s board after more than 18 years as one of the few directors with the heft to challenge Masayoshi Son.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 25, 2019
Masayoshi Son: Tech visionary or robber baron?
We're coming to realize that the SoftBank founder is less a business guru than a 19th-century capitalist.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2019
WeWork bailout stalls as Japan banks balk at lending Softbank $3 billion
SoftBank Group Corp.'s talks to secure $3 billion (about ¥328 billion) from the nation's three biggest banks have stalled as the lenders have hit internal lending limits to the firm, two people said, complicating a $9.5 billion rescue package for WeWork.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2019
Masayoshi Son's bankers worried about their favorite client
Masayoshi Son's bankers are taking a hard look at their most important client.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2019
SoftBank will have 'last laugh' on WeWork deal, analyst predicts
SoftBank Group Corp.'s massive investment in WeWork triggered a multibillion-dollar write-down and a rare apology from founder Masayoshi Son. But one analyst argues the deal is likely to work in the end and SoftBank will have the "last laugh."
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 9, 2019
SoftBank's new tech fund to fall shy of target, Telegraph reports
SoftBank Group Corp. has scaled back ambitions for its second Vision Fund after the failure of big bets, including WeWork, by its first fund rattled partners such as Saudi Arabia, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 6, 2019
SoftBank and University of Tokyo to open business-oriented AI research centers
SoftBank Corp. and the University of Tokyo have agreed to open artificial-intelligence centers staffed with specialists from the university and around the world, to swiftly turn research into profitable business ventures so Japan can keep up with the U.S. and China.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2019
SoftBank's startup bookkeeping draws scrutiny after WeWork fiasco
In early 2018, the founders of Chinese artificial intelligence startup SenseTime Group Ltd. flew to Tokyo to see billionaire investor Masayoshi Son. As they entered the offices, Chief Executive Officer Xu Li was hoping to persuade the head of SoftBank Group Corp. to invest $200 million in his three-year-old...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 25, 2019
WeWork's escape plan is buried in the books at its Tokyo office
Masayoshi Son stood on stage in Tokyo earlier this month and told skeptical SoftBank Group Corp. investors that making WeWork Cos. profitable is not only possible, but will be "simple." Driving that confidence is WeWork's Japanese unit, which is already in the black and will be the springboard for a...
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 20, 2019
Robotics investments help SoftBank create Roomba rival Whiz
SoftBank Group Corp. has put billions of dollars into a laser-based technology that could allow cars to drive themselves and help astronauts land on distant planets. It turns out that same technology makes a pretty good vacuum cleaner.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 17, 2019
SoftBank's second Vision Fund starting life a lot smaller than the first
SoftBank Group Corp. has quietly completed an initial money-raising push for its second technology fund, at a fraction of its targeted $108 billion.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2019
WeWork and SoftBank sued over canceled IPO
WeWork officials and SoftBank are being sued by minority shareholders to recoup losses as the shared workspace provider pulled its initial public offering and saw its value plunge more than 87 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2019
SoftBank's Son says it's business as usual after record loss, but Tokyo traders aren't buying it
Masayoshi Son wants investors to believe that a record loss from investments in money-losing startups WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc. is but a bump in the road. Some aren't buying it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 17, 2019
SoftBank plans $5 billion in rescue financing for WeWork
SoftBank Group Corp. is in discussions to provide WeWork with roughly $5 billion of rescue financing in an effort to salvage one of the conglomerate's biggest investments.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 8, 2019
SoftBank's damage from Uber and WeWork could exceed $5 billion
Masayoshi Son's startups have had a rough few months, from a botched initial public offering by WeWork to a sharp decline in shares of Uber Technologies Inc.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 2, 2019
SoftBank debtholders hope for more caution after WeWork woes
Many bond market participants still think SoftBank is a relatively safe bet, but a bumpy few weeks for the corporate investor has prompted some to pine for a bit more caution.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 1, 2019
SoftBank has a lesson for startups with WeWork coup: Your dreams had better be profitable
Masayoshi Son, long known as a free-spending benefactor who encouraged startup founders to pursue their dreams even if it meant losing billions of dollars, had a different message for entrepreneurs last month: Your dreams had better be profitable.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan