SoftBank Group Corp.
Company History
SoftBank History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1981 in Tokyo, Japan
When was SoftBank founded?
SoftBank was founded in 1981 in Tokyo, Japan by Masayoshi Son, making it 45 years old.
- Founded
- 1981
- Founding place
- Tokyo, Japan
- Founders
- Masayoshi Son
- Headquarters today
- Tokyo, Japan
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1981–2026)
- Current CEO
- Masayoshi Son
- Acquisitions
- 8
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Founding in Tokyo |
| 1995 | Investment in Yahoo! |
| 2000 | Investment in Alibaba |
| 2006 | Acquisition of Vodafone Japan |
| 2013 | Sprint Acquired |
| 2015 | Ken Miyauchi becomes CEO |
| 2016 | Acquisition of ARM Holdings |
| 2017 | Creation of the Vision Fund |
| 2023 | ARM Holdings IPO |
| 2024 | Return to profit |
| 2026 | SoftBank Group reports record FY2025 profit |
| 2026 | OpenAI follow-on investment completed |
- Where was SoftBank founded?
- SoftBank was founded in Tokyo, Japan in 1981.
- Who founded SoftBank?
- SoftBank was founded by Masayoshi Son.
- When did SoftBank start?
- SoftBank was founded in 1981.
- How old is SoftBank?
- SoftBank is 45 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Masayoshi Son founded Nihon SoftBank in Tokyo in September 1981 as a distributor of PC software and a publisher of computer magazines. In the mid-1990s he bought US assets including the COMDEX trade show and Ziff-Davis, and in 1996 he formed Yahoo Japan with Yahoo. In 2000 SoftBank put about $20 million into Alibaba, a stake worth more than $60 billion by Alibaba's 2014 IPO. The 2006 purchase of Vodafone Japan made SoftBank a mobile carrier, and in 2008 it became the first carrier to sell the iPhone in Japan.
Founders
Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son was an entrepreneur who recognized the structural inefficiency in the nascent Japanese software distribution market, where the industry was entirely fragmented and dominated by small, regional operators who lacked the capital to scale. His founding philosophy was centered on the radical idea of a 300-year corporate plan, dictating that the company must continuously identify and dominate the foundational technologies of the information age, from the early internet and e-commerce to mobile broadband and artificial intelligence. Son's specific decision to make a $100 million investment in Yahoo! in 1995 defined the company's trajectory, providing the capital required to execute its grand strategic vision and establishing the foundation for the company's eventual dominance as a global technology hegemon. Masayoshi Son was born in 1957 in Tosu. Education: University of California, Berkeley; Holy Names University.
Key Milestones
Founding in Tokyo
Masayoshi Son founds SoftBank Corp in Tokyo, Japan, pioneering the software distribution model and beginning the aggressive acquisition of regional technology distributors.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgInvestment in Yahoo!
SoftBank invests in Yahoo!, and in 1996 forms the Yahoo Japan joint venture, which became one of Japan's largest internet portals.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquisition of Vodafone Japan
SoftBank buys Vodafone's Japanese mobile business for about JPY 1.75 trillion (roughly $15 billion), turning itself into a national mobile carrier.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgSprint Acquired
SoftBank bought about 78 percent of the US carrier Sprint in July 2013 for about $21.6 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgKen Miyauchi becomes CEO
Ken Miyauchi became CEO of SoftBank Group in 2015. Led the domestic Japanese telecom subsidiary through aggressive 5G deployment, growing it into a standalone publicly listed entity on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgAcquisition of ARM Holdings
SoftBank acquires British chip designer ARM Holdings for GBP 24.3 billion (about $32 billion) in cash.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCreation of the Vision Fund
SoftBank launches the roughly $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund, with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as the largest outside investor.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgARM Holdings IPO
Arm lists on Nasdaq in September 2023 at $51 per share, while SoftBank keeps about 90% of the shares.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgReturn to profit
SoftBank reports FY2024 (year ended March 31, 2025) net income of ~$7.73 billion (JPY 1.153 trillion) on net sales of ~$48.5 billion (JPY 7.244 trillion), its first annual profit in four years.
Source: softbank.jpSoftBank Group reports record FY2025 profit
SoftBank Group reported FY2025 net sales of ~$52.3B (JPY 7.798650T) and net income attributable to owners of the parent of ~$33.5B (JPY 5.002271T).
Source: group.softbankOpenAI follow-on investment completed
On October 1, 2026, SoftBank completed the third tranche of its $30 billion follow-on investment in OpenAI, bringing its cumulative investment to about $64.6 billion.
Source: group.softbankMajor Acquisitions
COMDEX
1995SoftBank Group acquired COMDEX in 1995 for $800 million.
Kingston Technology
1996SoftBank Group acquired Kingston Technology in 1996.
Vodafone Japan
2006Bought Vodafone's Japanese mobile business for about $11.7 billion (JPY 1.75 trillion) to become a national mobile carrier.
Willcom
2010SoftBank Group acquired Willcom in 2010.
DramaFever
2015SoftBank Group acquired DramaFever in 2015.
ARM Holdings
2016Acquired the British CPU designer for ~$32.1 billion (GBP 24.3 billion) in cash to own a foundational chip architecture.
ABB Robotics division
2025Agreement announced to buy ABB's industrial robotics business at an enterprise value of $5.375 billion, part of SoftBank's physical AI strategy.
Supercell
2013SoftBank Group Corp. acquired Supercell in 2013.
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SoftBank Company History FAQ
When and where was SoftBank originally founded?
SoftBank was founded in September 1981 in Tokyo, Japan, by 24-year-old entrepreneur Masayoshi Son as Nihon SoftBank, starting in a modest rented room in Nakano as a packaged PC software distributor.
What was the famous $20 million investment in Alibaba in 2000?
In 2000, Masayoshi Son met former English teacher Jack Ma in Beijing and invested $20 million into Chinese e-commerce startup Alibaba. That initial check grew to be worth over $70 billion to $100 billion, becoming the most lucrative venture capital investment in human history.
How did SoftBank establish Yahoo! Japan in 1996?
In 1996, SoftBank partnered with Jerry Yang to launch Yahoo! Japan as a joint venture, dominating Japanese internet search, news, and digital advertising for over two decades.
What was the acquisition of Vodafone Japan in 2006?
In 2006, SoftBank acquired the struggling Japanese mobile unit of Vodafone for ¥1.75 trillion (~$15 billion). Son secured exclusive Japanese distribution rights for Apple's iPhone in 2008, propelling SoftBank Mobile into Japan's third-largest telecommunications carrier.
When did SoftBank acquire US carrier Sprint?
In 2013, SoftBank acquired a 78% stake in US wireless carrier Sprint for $21.6 billion. After years of operational turnaround, SoftBank facilitated Sprint's $26 billion merger with T-Mobile US in April 2020, retaining a valuable equity stake in T-Mobile.
What was the landmark acquisition of Arm Holdings in 2016?
In September 2016, SoftBank acquired British microprocessor architecture designer Arm Holdings for £24 billion (~$32 billion), predicting that energy-efficient RISC chip architecture would power the future of IoT and artificial intelligence.
What was the $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund launched in 2017?
In 2017, Masayoshi Son raised the historic $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF1), securing $45 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and $15 billion from Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, fundamentally inflating global tech startup valuations.
What was the WeWork investment disaster and how did it impact SoftBank?
SoftBank poured over $10 billion into co-working startup WeWork and charismatic founder Adam Neumann. WeWork's botched 2019 IPO and subsequent bankruptcy in late 2023 caused billions in write-downs, forcing Son to adopt operational discipline and defensive cash preservation.
What happened when SoftBank attempted to sell Arm to Nvidia in 2020-2022?
In September 2020, SoftBank agreed to sell Arm to Nvidia for up to $40 billion. Global antitrust regulators (the FTC, UK CMA, and European Commission) blocked the sale over semiconductor monopoly concerns, leading SoftBank to terminate the deal in February 2022.
When did Arm return to public markets on NASDAQ?
On September 14, 2023, SoftBank listed Arm Holdings on the NASDAQ under ticker ARM at a $54.5 billion valuation. Retaining a ~90% stake, SoftBank saw Arm's market value surge past $130B-$150B+ as AI data centers adopted Arm Neoverse compute.
What is Masayoshi Son's vision for Artificial Superintelligence (ASI)?
In 2024, Masayoshi Son announced SoftBank's all-in pivot to Artificial Superintelligence (ASI)—AI 10,000 times smarter than human intelligence—committing tens of billions to AI robotics, energy infrastructure, and specialized silicon (Project Izanagi).
How long has Masayoshi Son led SoftBank?
Masayoshi Son has served continuously as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Group Corp. for over 45 years since founding the company in 1981.
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