Masayoshi Son

“My passion never fades out.”

“Best thing for a government to do is to eliminate obstacles like filing registrations, getting licences, and so on... tedious steps slow everything down.”

“Softbank 2.0 means globalisation of Softbank.”

“Money is available from investors as long as you have a great business model and a talented leader.”

“I think in terms of 20-year horizons.”

“In the early stages of Internet in Japan, many said that Japanese and Americans are different. There are 10 reasons why Japanese Internet is not taking off. I said none of them are right; it...”

“It's a long journey. There will be good times, and there will be bad times, but SoftBank is always there.”

“Of course Jack Ma was the guy who impressed me.”

“Just like I gave Jack Ma and Alibaba the luxury of staying private for longer, I am now giving Arm the gift of being private. My only message to them now is take my investment and let's go,...”

“I believe this artificial intelligence is going to be our partner. If we misuse it, it will be a risk. If we use it right, it can be our partner.”

“As a student, I had a hobby of inventing new ideas for products. For me, thinking of new businesses is like inventing new products.”

“My belief is that we should never become overconfident.”

“We believe the singularity is inevitable, and all businesses will be redefined as computers overtake humans in intelligence.”

“I am actually better at predicting or talking about 30 years later than three years.”

“SoftBank has had a lot of businesses, but they've always ranked, say, third in Japan or fourth in the U.S.”

“To have real success and roots in a society, there has to be a local champion, and hence we believe in identifying a local entrepreneur.”

“In tennis, you strike a ball just after the rebound for the fastest return. It's the same with investment.”

“Renewables is part of social responsibility, but the information revolution is the only main thing I am interested in.”

“People usually compare the computer to the head of the human being. I would say that hardware is the bone of the head, the skull. The semiconductor is the brain within the head. The software...”

“To many of you, Sprint may seem like a burden for SoftBank. But in my view, Sprint is going to be one of SoftBank's primary cash cows.”