Chapter 840: A Twist of Fate

His name made waves globally and individual investors increasingly mimicked his portfolio.

His legend shattered when the dot-com bubble burst. Most internet companies listed on the U.S. NASDAQ saw their stock prices plummet and many startups that SoftBank invested in went bankrupt. As a result his portfolio suffered huge losses.

SoftBank’s stock price dropped 90% from its peak. SoftBank shareholders, yakuza, politicians and Japanese tycoons who had entrusted their money to him personally came to pressure him.

“Please believe in me one more time. It’s not over yet. The bubble of IT companies has burst but the potential hasn’t disappeared. Trust me and wait a little longer, then I will bring you huge profits.”

He gathered investors and pleaded his case but everyone reproached him.

“Because of you! Your stubbornness! I’m about to lose my entire fortune!”

Shareholders rebuked, chided and demanded compensation. Masayoshi Son listened to everyone’s opinions while standing upright. After six hours of continuous criticism, the shareholders’ expressions softened considerably.

Just then, a grandmother stood up and spoke.

“We took all our husband’s retirement money and bought SoftBank stock. We invested 10 million yen and when it fell 99% to 100,000 yen, we were in despair.”

Most investors, like the grandmother, had pooled their small savings to invest in SoftBank. After the grandmother spoke, none of the shareholders said a word.

Then an old man raised his hand. As he stood up all eyes turned to him.

He was SoftBank’s second-largest shareholder and a wealthy man who had also entrusted money to Masayoshi Son personally.

“Masayoshi.”

“Yes, Elder.”

“Can you recover my money?”

“I will definitely get it back.”

The old man nodded and said.

“Alright. I’ll watch and see if you can recover my money or fail again. I’ll trust you just this one more time, Masayoshi.”

When the old man said he would trust Masayoshi Son, other investors seemed moved and agreed one by one. The investors who had been angry decided to give Masayoshi Son another chance.

“But this is your last chance. This is as far as my trust goes. If things go as planned, I’m willing to invest more.”

“Thank you for your trust. I will definitely repay your faith.”

By the end of the shareholders’ meeting that lasted over six hours, all the shareholders applauded him.

Despite regaining the shareholders’ trust his path ahead was still dark. His choice was to pursue the high-speed internet business.

Masayoshi Son declared he would provide a service much faster than Japan’s largest telecom company, NTT, at less than half the cost.

It was an ambitious start but NTT, which was supposed to lease the lines, was uncooperative. Customers’ awareness of high-speed internet was low and the service quality wasn’t great either.

Money was needed to improve all of this. However, banks turned their backs on him and increasing capital wasn’t easy. Eventually, he handed over Yahoo’s U.S. shares to the U.S. headquarters.

“I can’t understand your thinking, Masayoshi. I’m quitting.”

Kitawa Yoshinaka, the CFO who had worked with Masayoshi Son for a long time, turned his back. He couldn’t understand why Masayoshi Son would stake the company’s fate on the uncertain future of high-speed internet and eventually spun off part of SoftBank’s headquarters to become independent.

His resignation created a lot of rumors and as a result, SoftBank’s stock price, which had just begun to recover, fell again.

“Vice President Kazuhito, please help me.”

To somehow manage the situation, Masayoshi Son sought out and pleaded with Kasai Kazuhito, who had retired as vice president of Fuji Bank.

Although he was elderly he was well-connected in Japan’s financial sector.

After recruiting him, Masayoshi Son raised funds and visited relevant government departments to protest in order to gain NTT’s cooperation.

Time passed. Losses piled up. He lost 100 billion yen annually but he didn’t give up.

He was able to endure the losses thanks to the explosive growth of Yahoo Japan.

Eventually, his efforts got on track. Masayoshi Son acquired Japan Telecom to further improve service quality.

Three years after starting the business, the high-speed internet service turned a profit.

Then his attention was captured by the iPhone.

“Yes! That’s it! That’s innovation!”

Masayoshi Son immediately flew to Apple and requested a meeting with Steve Jobs. He was rejected but fortunately, he had a past connection with Tim Cook so he was able to meet him.

“Give me the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Asia! I’ll do my best to help the iPhone grow!”

“I’d like to, but my boss doesn’t want to so there’s nothing I can do.”

“What’s the reason? Who’s a better fit than me in Asia! I can sell the iPhone in Japan, Korea and even China!”

“I can’t tell you the reason. Just go back. No matter how much you push me, the boss’s decision is law at Apple. I don’t have the power to change that.”

“You can’t do anything?”

“That’s the reality.”

Masayoshi Son, who gained nothing from meeting Tim Cook, continued to contact Apple.

“What? A simultaneous release in Korea and the U.S.?”

The news that came in the meantime was even more shocking.

“Not Japan, not Europe but Korea?”

He couldn’t understand Apple’s move.

Just then the door opened and his secretary walked in.

“What is it, Masaō?”

Shocked by the news, Masayoshi Son took his anger out on his innocent secretary.

“I’m sorry. It’s urgent so I need to report quickly.”

“Urgent? What is it?”

“It’s about the iPhone.”

“Tell me quickly!”

The nervous secretary hurried on.

“We received a call from Korea. They asked us to visit Korea to negotiate the exclusive rights to the iPhone in Japan.”

“What does that mean?”

In that instant, a name flashed through Masayoshi Son’s mind.

He bit his lip tightly and asked his secretary.

“Is it Boss Kim Mu-hyeok?”

“Yes, that’s correct. He says he holds the exclusive rights to the iPhone for the three East Asian countries.”

“Is that true? Did you check with Apple?”

“They said they couldn’t say anything.”

“They can’t say anything… That’s basically admitting it’s true.”

“Honestly, it’s hard to believe that they’d give such tremendous authority to a mere Korean investor.”

The secretary expressed a negative opinion. He was one of those typical Japanese people who looked down on Korea.

“No, it’s probably true. If it’s Kim Mu-hyeok, he’s fully capable of doing that.”

“But…”

“Book a flight immediately, stop talking nonsense. Whatever you think doesn’t matter right now! We must get our hands on the iPhone! That’s the only way we can survive.”

“…Yes sir.”

The next day, Masayoshi Son boarded a plane bound for Korea.

* * *

Masayoshi Son and I sat facing each other.

“First, it’s true that I have the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in Japan. Here’s the document that proves it.”

I pushed a sheet of paper toward Masayoshi Son.

He hurriedly picked it up and read it.

“…It’s true. So that’s why you said you couldn’t give it to me.”

Masayoshi Son put down the document with a dejected look.

“It will be difficult to sell directly in Japan.”

I nodded.

“There’s a way to acquire a telecom company but… No one will hand it over to a Korean.”

“That’s right. Japan is a very closed-off country, especially to Koreans.”

“You must have experienced that firsthand, Chairman. I know.”

“…So you’re saying you’ll hand over those rights to me?”

“If the conditions are right. You’re a better fit than I am after all.”

“Conditions?”

“First, these are the conditions Apple wants from telecom companies.”

I tossed the documents in front of Masayoshi Son.

It was rude but Masayoshi Son didn’t care. He picked up the documents and started reading.

One page, two pages, his expression darkened as he went further.

“Asking for a portion of the fees is too much, isn’t it?”

“That condition is non-negotiable. The U.S. telecom companies, Europe and Korea all have the same conditions.”

“Did they all accept these terms?”

“They did. The iPhone is that amazing of a device. Would you like to see for yourself?”

To help him choose I took out the iPhone prototype Jobs had given me and handed it to him.

Seeing the iPhone in person for the first time he carefully examined it like a child.

“It’s a prototype so a lot will probably change at launch. But if it gets better it’ll only get better, it won’t get worse.”

His eyes gleamed with desire as he examined the iPhone.

“This is revolutionary. Who but Apple could release such a device?”

After examining the iPhone for a long time he finally spoke.

“It’s even more amazing to see it in person. It’s years ahead of its time.”

Masayoshi Son’s eye was as accurate as ever. I may have preemptively invested in his investment targets, denying him many opportunities to show off his abilities. Still, his eye for the future was real.

“Yes. Devices that copy it will definitely come out. But no device will be able to beat the iPhone for decades.”

Masayoshi Son nodded and handed the iPhone back to me.

Unlike before, his eyes were burning with passion.

“I’ll accept all these conditions.”

“But I understand that SoftBank doesn’t have a mobile carrier among its subsidiaries. Even if you get the exclusive rights to the iPhone, without a mobile carrier you’ll only be helping someone else.”

“That’s…”

He hesitated and trailed off. I smiled at his hesitation and said.

“Are you preparing to acquire Vodafone Japan?”

“Oh… How did you?”

“That’s what I would do. Chairman Son wouldn’t do someone else a favor. You’re a very ambitious person after all.”

“Haha. No, I’m not. As soon as I saw the iPhone, I had a premonition. The future is no longer the computer but this small iPhone. So I was preparing.”

I nodded and asked.

“It won’t be cheap. It will take at least 2 trillion yen to acquire and merge Vodafone Japan. Do you have that kind of leeway?”

“I’m thinking of various methods.”

Seeing Masayoshi Son pretending to be relaxed, I smiled.

“Then let’s acquire it together.”

“What?”

“I’m saying let’s acquire Vodafone Japan together. Why give the profits to someone else? I’ll cover half the acquisition funds.”

“…”

“That’s my condition. To join hands with me. If you don’t accept this, I have no choice but to choose another partner. I chose Chairman Son because we’re both Korean, but I don’t care who the other person is. As long as they’re a Japanese businessman.”

Masayoshi Son stared into my eyes as if to see through my intentions.

I smiled as if I knew what he was worried about and said.

“I have no interest in management rights. If you’re so anxious, let’s create a SPAC to acquire Vodafone Japan and invest there. I’ll take 49% of the shares and Chairman Son’s SoftBank will take 51%.”

It meant to safely proceed by establishing a SPAC, a company whose purpose was to acquire another company.

That way, the entity that acquires Vodafone Japan wouldn’t be SoftBank but that corporation. And SoftBank, which held 51% of that corporation’s shares, could exercise management rights.

“In addition, we’ll also draw up a contract that gives SoftBank priority when we sell our shares. Will you accept?”

Masayoshi Son wasn’t a fool to not recognize such a deal when it was right in front of him.

No, standing on the edge of a cliff as he was, he had no other choice.