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Published byNathanial Hersey Modified over 9 years ago
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Softbank: Visionary Entrepreneurship in Japan Maria Metzger Xiuping Li David Harelick David Grosof
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Agenda Size Makeup Recent News Leadership Early History Middle Ages Strengths Issues Emerging Market Strategy Conclusion
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Size Worth approximately $18BB 300 companies and affiliates
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Makeup Financing value chain –Hotbank –Softbank Capital Partners $1.25 billion later-stage fund. –Softbank Venture Capital (SBVC) $2 billion under our management US Venture Managers –Rieschel on the West Coast –Charley Lax in Boston
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Recent News Cisco invests $1BB in a Softbank fund Cisco to purchase back Japanese subsidiary Raising $4BB+ for broadband buildout –Fighting the entrenched NTT
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Leadership Masayoshi Son, CEO (43) –Son’s share of Softbank is worth apx. $7 billion –charismatic, visionary –born in Japan, of Korean ancestry –immigrated to the SF as a teenager –University of California at Berkeley –made his first million inventing a multilingual pocket dictionary and translator Sold to Japan's Sharp Corp –named Forbes Businessman of the Year in 2000
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Dawn of Son Son Founded the Softbank Corp in 1981 in Japan Established product-distribution channels for PC and game software –JV with Novell, Cisco Systems, and Microsoft Late 80s/early 90s, entered many new IS markets –publishing, network services & information delivery Went public in 1994 –Son retaining > 50 percent of the equity
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Son Rises Made many “strategic” acquisitions –Ziff-Davis' worldwide exposition business –Comdex –Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. itself –2% cost of capital from Japanese Banks –arbitraging the higher P/E rates of Japanese companies Early Venture Investing –MediaBank Corp. - 1994 JV with NTT video on demand and Internet services in Japan –Early investor in Yahoo! –CyberCash & E*Trade Group Inc.
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Strengths Focused on Internet content and services Ignored hardware and never challenged the big 3 –Microsoft, Intel, Cisco Lower-risk porting of US-style business models to other markets
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Issues Value fell 90% Between 2/00 and 12/00 49% stake in Nippon Credit Bank –one of Japan's “most corrupt & badly managed banks” –risky assets of $35 billion –Mitigant: Government backing Launched Nasdaq Japan during tech-stock slump Japanese broadband access initiative is weak A few years ago Softbank in financial distress –threats of delisting, loan calls, accounting irregularities Poor investments –Kingston Technology, Ziff-Davis, 3-D chat, etc.
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Emerging Market Strategy Telecom infrastructure in emerging markets Partnering with the World Bank –strong government relationships Leveraging their Netbatsu’s conglomerate power –Immaturity of their capital markets –importance of politics/regulation Partnering with Murdoch’s News Corporation in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and India
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Conclusion Working hard to open Japan's ossified capital markets to a new generation of entrepreneurs They entrepreneurs may transform the Japanese economy Even if Softbank fails, the genie has been unleashed
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Haikus Softbank is new way A stone thrown into a still pond Soon Nippon reshapes. New kid on the block Old boys are nervous and scared Information Rules.
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