Masayoshi Son Trivia Questions

Son founded SoftBank in 1981 as a software distributor, but it started with about three employees, not two. The 'two employees' detail is slightly off but close to the truth.

SoftBank owned about 34% of Alibaba at its 2014 IPO, significantly more than Jack Ma's roughly 8% stake, making Son one of the biggest beneficiaries of Alibaba's success.

Son transferred to UC Berkeley, completed a bachelor's in economics in about two years, and later credited his quick graduation to skipping classes and self-studying.

Son was born in Japan to ethnic Korean parents and used a Korean name, Masayoshi Son's family faced discrimination, and he didn't become a Japanese citizen until later in life.

There is no credible record of Son owning a private island. He is known for lavish spending on art and tech, but this island claim is a common fabricated rumor.

Son did not invest in Google early; that myth stems from his general reputation for spotting tech winners. Google's early investors included Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins.

In 2000, during the dot-com bust, Son lost about $70 billion in personal wealth as SoftBank's stock crashed from $200 billion to $2 billion in market cap.

At the peak of the dot-com bubble, SoftBank's stock soared, making Son's net worth briefly exceed $80 billion, surpassing Bill Gates for a day, before collapsing.