SoftBank Group Corp. (ソフトバンクグループ株式会社) is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management.[3] The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a multitude of markets and industries ranging from the internet to automation.[4] With over $100 billion in capital at its onset, SoftBank's Vision Fund is the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund. Fund investors included sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East.[5][6][7]
The company is known for the leadership of its controversial[8][9][10][11] founder and largest shareholder Masayoshi Son.[12][13][14] Its investee companies, subsidiaries and divisions, including several unprofitable unicorns,[15][16] operate in robotics, artificial intelligence, software, logistics, transportation, biotechnology, robotic process automation, proptech, real estate, hospitality, broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, information technology, finance, media and marketing, and other areas.[17] Among its international stockholdings are stakes in Arm[18] (semiconductors), Alibaba[19][20] (e-commerce), OYO Rooms[21] (hospitality), WeWork[22] (coworking) and Deutsche Telekom[23] (telecommunications). SoftBank Corporation, its spun-out affiliate and former flagship business, is the third-largest wireless carrier in Japan, with 45.621 million subscribers as of March 2021.[24]
SoftBank was ranked in the 2025 Forbes Global 2000 list as the 130th largest public company in the world.[25]
The logo of SoftBank is based on the flag of the Kaientai, a naval trading company founded in 1865, near the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, by Sakamoto Ryōma.[26]
Although SoftBank does not affiliate itself to any traditional keiretsu, it has close ties with Mizuho Financial Group, its primary lender.[27]
On January 21, 2025, it was announced that Softbank, along with OpenAI, MGX, and Oracle, would launch what was announced to be an artificial intelligence infrastructure system in conjunction with the U.S. government, titled Stargate. The project is estimated to cost $500 billion. U.S. president Donald Trump stated that the infrastructure was developed to have American-made AI in the United States. The project will be funded over the course of the next four years.[28]
History
Founding and early years
SoftBank was founded in September 1981 as SOFTBANK Corp by then-24-year-old Masayoshi Son, initially as a software distributor. The company entered the publishing business in May 1982 with the launches of the Oh! PC and Oh! MZ magazines, about NEC and Sharp computers respectively.[29] Oh!PC had a circulation of 140,000 copies by 1989.[30] It would go on to become Japan's largest publisher of computer and technology magazines and trade shows.
In 1994, the company went public, valued at $3 billion.[30] In September 1995, SoftBank agreed to purchase US-based Ziff Davis
Institutional ownership
2020
As of 30 September 2020, SoftBank ownership is as follows:[174][175]
- Masayoshi Son (21.25%)
- The Master Trust Bank of Japan investment trusts (10.25%)
- Japan Trustee Services Bank main investment trusts (5.87%)
- JPMorgan Chase (7.45%)
- Citibank
Business units
SoftBank’s corporate portfolio includes various subsidiary and affiliate companies such as SoftBank BB, a broadband operator based in Japan; IDC Frontier, which specializes in data centers; and SB Creative, a publishing company. SBI Group refers to a financial services company based in Japan. The company started as a subsidiary of SoftBank in 1999.[178] Ymobile Corporation refers to another subsidiary of SoftBank specializing in telecommunications, formed in 2014. In 2010, SoftBank created a subsidiary named Wireless City Planning (WCP), which coordinates TD-LTE development across Japan.[179]
SoftBank also operated SoftBank Capital, a US-based venture capital firm founded in 1995, which was closed to new investments in 2015 and subsequently replaced by the SoftBank Vision Fund as the group's primary investment vehicle.[180]
The group also has a professional baseball team known as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks,[181]
Marketing
Since May 2006, SoftBank's telecommunications marketing and commercials have principally revolved around "Otosan", the canine patriarch of the otherwise human "Shirato" family.[199] "Otosan" translates to father, and the character, a Hokkaido dog, indeed acts as the father of the family, along with the son "Kojiro" (starred by Dante Carver), mom "Masako" (Kanako Higuchi), and daughter "Aya" (Aya Ueto).[200] The advertising series proved to be popular: CM Research Center ranked the Otousan adverts as the most popular in Japan between 2007 and 2012, based on monthly surveys of 3,000 randomly selected adults.[201][202]
SoftBank partnered with the Ingress augmented reality game, supporting the branded "SoftBank Ultra Link" in-game item.[203]
Baby bonus
In 2015, SoftBank, along with some other companies in Japan,[206] offered a baby bonus for employees who have children. The payments range from 50,000 yen for the first child to 5 million yen for the fifth child.[207][208][209]
Vision fund investments
SoftBank Investment Advisers oversees SoftBank's Vision Fund, created in 2017, which invests in emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and the internet of things.[210] It intended to develop a portfolio of 125 AI companies.[211] According to the fund and Son, it also invested in companies to revolutionize real estate, transportation, and retail. Son claimed he would make personal connections with the CEOs of all companies funded by Vision Fund in order to boost synergies among them.[212] Son’s original plans were to raise $100 billion for a new fund every few years, investing about $50 billion a year in startups.[213] By 2023, after the launch of Vision Fund 1 and 2, the dismal performance[214] of SoftBank’s funds had cast a shadow over the initial exuberance of both Masayoshi Son and his company regarding its huge, largely unprofitable intercorporate investments[215]
SoftBank Ventures Asia
SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) was the global early-stage venture capital arm of the SoftBank Group[219] The firm focused on early-stage ICT investments – including Artificial Intelligence (AI), the internet of things (IoT), and smart robotics.[220] By October 2021, SBVA had backed more than 250 companies in 10 countries with US$1.3 billion fund under management.[221]
SoftBank Ventures Asia (SBVA) was founded in 2000 as SoftBank Ventures Korea[220] and began its focus on South Korean market[220] and its early-stage ventures.[219]
See also
Additional sources
- .
External links
- (SoftBank Group)
- (SoftBank)
- The first photo sent from a phone, BBC Witness History
References
- Consolidated financial report for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024 SoftBank Group, retrieved 2024-09-10^
- SoftBank Group Report 2024 SoftBank Group, retrieved 2024-09-10^
- SoftBank Gives Up Pretending It Isn't a Fund