Masayoshi Son

Masayoshi Son (Japanese: 孫 正義, Hepburn: Son Masayoshi, Korean: 손정의 Son Jeong-ui; born August 11, 1957) is a Korean-descendant (Zainichi Korean) Japanese businessman and the founder and current chief executive officer of SoftBank, the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile, and current chairman of Sprint Corporation. According to Forbes magazine, Son's estimated net worth is US $20.4 billion and he is the richest man in Japan, despite having the distinction of losing the most money in history (approximately $70bn during the dot com crash of 2000). Forbes also describes him as a philanthropist. Son was named the world's 45th most powerful person by Forbes Magazine's List of The World's Most Powerful People in 2013. 2Background His ancestors moved from Korea to Japan. Son's family adopted the Japanese surname Yasumoto (安本) in daily life and Son used this surname as a child. Son pursued his interests in business by securing a meeting with Japan McDonald's president Den Fujita. Taking his advice, Son began studying English and computer science. At age 16, Son moved to California and finished high school while staying with friends and family in South San Francisco. After spending two years at Holy Names University, he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, at which he majored in economics and studied computer scienc