Company Overview
Highlights
Founder Masayoshi Son (hailed by many as the Bill Gates of Japan—with a better haircut) owns more than 31 percent of the company.
Acquired Vodafone in 2006.
Softbank is hard-core when it comes to making investments. The company, which focuses on investing in tech companies, has snapped up shares of hundreds and hundreds of Internet-related companies and extended the bank's investment reach into sectors including e-commerce, e-finance, broadband infrastructure, media and marketing, Internet culture, and technology services. Companies that have received Softbank investments include E-Trade, Morningstar Asset Management, Akamai, and Yahoo! Softbank has stakes in more than 100 Internet-related companies, and, saddled with debt, will probably be looking to dump some of its less successful holdings (such as MediaLive International). The money saved will be put toward even more acquisitions and high-speed Internet opportunities in Asia. The company plans to pump $2 billion into Vodafone Japan after shelling out $16 billion to acquire the company in 2006. The bread and butter of Softbank’s Internet holdings is its stake in Yahoo! (less than 10 percent) and ownership of Yahoo! Japan. Among its many recent acquisitions was the Japanese League’s Fukuoka Daiei Hawks baseball team, in 2005.