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, go, go.
— Masayoshi Son
There will come an age when our average life expectancy will reach 200 years.
I have no intention of making small bets.
SoftBank is not a specialist on any instrument. We did not invent any instrument. Not the best player. But we would like to be a conductor of this information revolution.
My belief is that we should never become overconfident.
Those who rule chips will rule the entire world.
Difficulty comes not only because of your mistakes, but once you try to make an excuse or accuse someone else, your mind stops thinking.
I think in terms of 20-year horizons.
I always have a big idea. It pops up every two to three years.
The year 2000, I was the richest for three days. So I know up and down.
When I was a kid, our family was not that rich.
When those super intelligence goes into robots, those robots with the super intelligence will change our lives.
Money is available from investors as long as you have a great business model and a talented leader.
Renewables is part of social responsibility, but the information revolution is the only main thing I am interested in.
SoftBank has had a lot of businesses, but they've always ranked, say, third in Japan or fourth in the U.S.
I said from the very beginning, 'Yahoo should position itself as a technology innovation company, not as a media company.'
Think big; think disruptive. Execute with full passion.
I try to look in the future and think backwards. That is when I am at my most comfortable. Because then I am just like the movie, 'Back to the Future.'
There will come a time when the human race and super intelligence will coexist to create a richer and happier life.
We only live once, so I want to think big.
When the founders retire, it's always difficult for the second generation and third generation.
We feel a brand should be free.
Our aim is to develop affectionate robots that can make people smile.
Whenever there is a big difficulty, I don't make excuses. Instead, I say I will solve it even if everybody leaves.
Most of the time, when I make a big move, people say I am out of my mind. But I don't think about how I can add to what I have today.
Every street light will be interconnected to the Internet because we can save when car is not passing. Automobile will all be connected, so driverless car much safer.
Alibaba is Alibaba. We are going to keep on, you know, having Alibaba as our core company in our family.
I am not trying to chase what other people are doing.
God is so kind, he has given so much sunshine to India.
Best thing for a government to do is to eliminate obstacles like filing registrations, getting licences, and so on... tedious steps slow everything down.
My style is to have a big vision, a big commitment.
I always take bold moves. So it can have great return but with great risk.
Yahoo was Jerry Yang's baby. He did a great job creating the baby. Unfortunately, some of the key executives after the foundation of the company couldn't keep up with the technology innovation of the industry. They thought that Yahoo should become a media company.
My passion never fades out.
It struck me deep in my mind. Some day, the chip is going to surpass mankind's brain.
Robots have already surpassed human beings in calculation and memory, but I have no doubt that the time will come when they will surpass in wisdom as well.
I think Snapdeal could become the Alibaba of India.
We are not experts on everything. We are not capable of doing everything by ourselves. There are a bunch of other smarter people around the world.
Those who rule data will rule the entire world.
Uber has to design for the global platform.
When Gates was active in business, he was the smartest - so focused that no company could surpass Microsoft.
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.
Back in the year 2000, most of the Internet companies were not making any money.
We have lots of ideas, lots of dreams.
I am actually better at predicting or talking about 30 years later than three years.
Softbank 2.0 means globalisation of Softbank.
When you negotiate a deal, you clearly know a lot about the other person.
Some kind of correction will always happen. But it depends on the specific companies.
If they had listened to me and had equal partnerships in China, the U.K., Germany and Brazil, maybe Yahoo in those countries could have become positioned like Yahoo Japan.
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's just a time lag. And, of course, Japanese Internet took off.
