Masayoshi Son Ready to Hand Over Management Control
Successor to Be Chosen from Within the Group
Emphasizes Ambition for AI Leadership and Market Dominance
Masayoshi Son, Chairman of Japanese investment company SoftBank Group, announced that he plans to hand over management control "to someone within the technology and telecommunications group." Son has previously spoken about retiring in his 60s and has said he is searching for a successor.
According to Yonhap News, which cited Bloomberg on the 27th, Son made these remarks at the group’s annual general meeting held in Tokyo. He stated, "I am prepared for any situation and am ready to hand over management control at any time," adding that he has several candidates in mind within the group.
At the SoftBank annual general meeting held in Tokyo, Japan on the 27th, Masayoshi Son, Chairman of SoftBank Group, is speaking. Photo by AFP
However, he added that he does not want to announce his successor until the very last moment out of concern that the successor might become arrogant. He emphasized, "This is a delicate balance."
Bloomberg assessed that "SoftBank's large-scale investment capabilities are partly supported by the enthusiastic backing of Japanese retail investors, and the group’s annual general meeting is an opportunity for Chairman Son to regularly share his technology-driven vision with investors." Bloomberg also noted that the question of Son’s succession is of the utmost importance to investors and business partners.
Son has long been searching for a successor, having previously expressed his intention to retire in his 60s. Over a decade ago, he designated Nikesh Arora, a former Google executive who was then President of SoftBank, as his successor. However, at the July 2016 general meeting, Son changed his mind, saying that artificial intelligence (AI) would bring about a paradigm shift for humanity and that he intended to work for another ten years.
Arora later became CEO of the Silicon Valley cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. More recently, Son’s younger brother, Taizo Son, who is 15 years younger and serves as Chairman of Mistletoe, was also mentioned as a potential successor. However, Son has limited the pool of candidates to "within SoftBank."
Meanwhile, at the same event, Son also emphasized his ambitions regarding AI investment. He explained that his goal is to benefit from the "winner-takes-all" dynamics among dominant technology platform providers such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet’s Google, and stated, "Ultimately, we aim to become the leading platform company for ASI?AI technology that will exceed human capabilities by 10,000 times."
He also reaffirmed his determination to become a market leader. Son said, "My belief that ASI, which will surpass human capabilities, will inevitably arrive has not changed in 50 years," adding, "SoftBank Group was founded to realize ASI, and by nature, I dislike being anything but number one."
In response to questions about the profitability of the AI business, Son projected the total market size at 600 trillion yen and stated that SoftBank Group intends to be one of the companies in that market. He said, "In ten years, ASI will account for about 5% of global GDP. If the profit margin is 50%, several companies will share about 600 trillion yen in profits, and we want to be one of them."
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