The David Rubenstein Show: Masayoshi Son

Summary

このスクリプトは、世界で最も成功したテクノロジー投資家かつビジネスマンの一人である男性の人生とキャリアを振り返るインタビューです。彼は100億ドルのファンドを設立し、サウジアラビアの王太子に45分の会談で45億ドルの投資を獲得したエピソードから始まります。男性は、コンピュータの性能が人間の脳を超える「getSingletonarity」というビジョンを語ります。また、韓国系日本人として日本の偏見に直面し、より努力を重ねる原動力になったと語ります。16歳の時にマクドナルドの経営者と出会い、将来のビジネスアドバイスを受け、カレフォルニア大学バークレーでの勉強と並行して発明を行って成功を収めました。アリババへの投資は、20億ドルから9000億ドルと4500％の利回りで世界的に認められる投資となりました。インターネットバブルの崩壊で70億ドルの資産を失った経験から、事業を再建し、ARMというセミコンダクター設計会社の投資で3100億ドルを投じ、その将来性を語ります。最後に、彼は人工知能が人類に脅威を与える可能性があるが、最終的には共存できると信じており、人類を守るためにAIの発展を目指していると述べています。

Takeaways

• 💼 成功のビジネスパーソンとして、ビジョンファンドを設立し、世界最大級のファンドを目指した経験から学んだことがある。
• 👑 サウジアラビアの王太子に45分の会談で45億ドルの投資を獲得した戦略と説得力について語った。
• 🌟 将来の産業を見据えて、コンピュータ業界に注目し、若い時に積極的にビジネスを展開した。
• 📈 ソフトバンクの設立と、個人コンピュータの普及に伴い、ソフトウェアの需要が高まった時代を捉えた。
• 📈 アリババへの投資が、20億ドルから9000億ドルという驚異的なリターンを生んだ。
• 🤖 人工知能の進化と、それが人類の未来に与える可能性について述べた。
• 💡 ビジョンファンドの目的は、世界を変えるというビジョンを実現することに重点を置いている。
• 💸 過去に70億ドルの資産を失った経験から、リスクとチャンスのバランスの重要性を学んだ。
• 🏆 ARM社の投資は、世界中のスマートフォンに使用されているチップの99%の市場シェアを持つという戦略的な意義がある。
• 👵 韓国系日本人としての経歴と、それがビジネス活動に与える影響について語った。
• 🤝 将来の10年間で後継者を選ぶ予定であり、その後も指導とサポートを続ける考え方について述べた。

Q & A

ビジョンファンドの設立にあたり、あなたはどのような反論を聞きましたか？

ビジョンファンドを設立すると言い出すと、多くの人が私を少しクレイジーだと思いました。

あなたがサウジアラビアの王太子に4500億ドルの投資を獲得した際の説得力は何でしたか？

45分の会談で4500億ドルの投資を獲得しましたが、実際には「1兆ドルの贈り物」という視野を提供し、投資100億ドルで1兆ドルの価値を提供できると説明しました。

あなたはどのようにしてマクドナルドの社長に会うことができたのですか？

長距離電話で何度かアシスタントに連絡し、とうとう東京へ飛び、3分間の顔を見せてもらうよう頼みました。結果として、15分の会話を通じてアドバイスをもらいました。

大学での生活で最も重要な学びは何でしたか？

私はカリフォルニア大学バークレーで学びましたが、ビジネスを行っていました。最も効率的な時間の使い方として、発明品を考えて特許出願を行い、エレクトロニック辞書を開発しました。

ソフトバンクの設立の目的は何でしたか？

個人コンピュータの時代が始まった時、ソフトバンクはソフトウェアの銀行のように、小規模なソフトウェアハウスから集めたソフトウェアを卸し、コンピュータストアに販売することで成功しました。

アリババへの投資はなぜ成功しましたか？

ビジネスプランも売上もなく、社員も35～40人でしたが、马云氏の強烈な魅力とリーダーシップが私に強い信念を与えてくれました。

2000年代初頭のインターネットバブルの崩壊で失った7000億ドルの資産を失ったとき、どのように感じましたか？

私にとっては非常に大きな損失でしたが、何とか生き延び、事業を再建しました。

ARM社の購入の意義は何ですか？

ARM社はスマートフォンの99％の市場シェアを誇るチップセットの設計会社です。未来20年間で1兆個のチップを出荷する見込みで、その市場シェアと潜在的な価値を認識して購入しました。

人工知能が人類を脅かす可能性があると思いますか？

危険性はありますが、人類の歴史を通じて戦争や対立がありましたが、今日では文明化が進んでいます。同様に、超知能ロボットがより効率的な共生を選び、人類と調和し合い、助け合い、愛情を育むでしょう。

将来、あなたのビジネスをどのように進めますか？

60代で後継者を選ぶ予定で、今後10年間はそのような計画を進めます。ただし、後継者を見つけてからも、指導とサポートを続ける予定です。

人生をもう一度生きるなら、何か変えることはありますか？

今は非常に楽しく、素晴らしい人生を楽しんでおり、また同じような人生を送りたくありません。ただし、2度目の場合は、すでに経験したことがあるため、少しは異なる道を歩むかもしれません。

Outlines

00:00

😀 ビジョン・ファンドの誕生とリーダーシップの定義

この段落では、主人公が100億ドルのファンドを設立しようとした際の周囲の反応や、幼少期に経験した差別、そして70億ドルの資産を失った心境について語っています。また、リーダーシップの定義や、成功したテクノロジー投資家としての彼のビジョンについて触れています。

05:00

😮 マクドナルド会長との出会いとソフトバンクの創業

16歳の時にマクドナルド会長に出会い、将来のビジネスアドバイスを受けたエピソードから始まり、大学在学中に発明した電子辞書を開発し、その売上げでソフトバンクを創業した経緯が語されています。また、カリフォルニア大学バークレーでの経験や、アメリカと日本でのビジネス活動についても触れています。

10:02

📈 アリババへの投資とインターネットバブル

ソフトバンクの設立後、主人公が行った投資活動と、その中でも特に注目されるアリババへの20万ドルの投資及其々の結果について説明しています。また、インターネットバブルの崩壊時に70億ドルの資産を失った経験と、その後の事業再建についても語られています。

15:03

💡 モバイルインターネットとARM社の買収

インターネットの移行とそれに伴うモバイルインターネットの重要性認識から、政府にライセンスを申請し、ボーダーから日本携帯電話事業を買収した経緯が語されています。また、ARM社の買収理由と、主人公が見据えている未来についてのビジョンが詳述されています。

20:06

🤖 AIとロボット技術の進化

主人公が抱えるAIやロボット技術に対する考え方と、それが人類の未来に与える可能性について語られています。また、人生の再現や、今後10～20年間の活動計画、そして後継者を選ぶ予定についても触れています。

Keywords

💡ビジョンファンド

ビジョンファンドとは、100億ドルという史上最大規模のファンドを設立しようとした資金調達プロジェクトです。ビデオの主人公は、ビジョンファンドを通じて、世界を変えるというビジョンを実現しようとしています。このプロジェクトは、主人公のリーダーシップとビジョンを示す重要な要素です。

💡シングルノリティ

シングルノリティは、コンピュータや人工知能が人間の脳を超えるという概念です。ビデオでは、主人公が30年以内にコンピュータがほとんどすべての分野で人間に優位になると信じていると述べています。これは、彼の投資哲学と未来予測の核心です。

💡ディスクリミネーション

主人公は韓国系日本人であり、日本の成長の中で差別的な経験を持ちました。それが彼を強くして、他人と違うことを証明するために一生懸命働いたと述べています。これは、彼の個人的な成長ストーリーと、克服した困難を象徴しています。

💡起業家精神

ビデオの主人公は、起業家精神に溢れています。彼は大学時代にすでにビジネスを開始し、ソフトバンクの設立後も、アリババやヤフーなどへの投資でその起業家的な才能を見せつけています。彼の起業家精神は、彼のビジネスuccessの鍵であり、ビデオの中心テーマの一つです。

💡投資

主人公は世界的に認められた投資家です。特に、アリババへの投資が世界的に高く評価されており、20万ドルの投資から90億ドルの価値に増えたとされています。また、ARMへの投資も、将来の潜在力を読み取り、先見の明を発揮した投資の一例です。

💡失敗と復活

2000年代初頭のインターネットバブルの崩壊で、主人公は70億ドルの資産を失いましたが、その後事業を再建しました。これは、彼が困難に直面し、それを克服する強さを持っていることを示す重要なエピソードです。

💡ARM

ARMは、スマートフォンの99％の市場シェアを持つセミコンダクター設計会社です。主人公は、将来の世界でチップが不可欠であり、ARMの市場シェアとデザイン能力が非常に価値があると信じ、31億ドルを投資しました。これは、彼の未来志向きの投資哲学を示す事例です。

💡未来予測

主人公は、将来のトレンドを読み取り、それに沿った投資を行っています。彼は、インターネットのモバイル化や人工知能の進化など、未来の潮流を洞察し、それに応じた戦略を立てています。これは、彼の成功の鍵であり、ビデオの重要なテーマの一つです。

💡人類の未来

ビデオでは、主人公が人工知能が進化し、人類の未来についても語っています。彼は、人工知能が人類を助け、共存し、調和の生活を送る力になると信じています。これは、彼のビジョンと、テクノロジーの進歩がもたらす可能性と課題に対する考え方を示します。

💡財産管理

主人公は、非常に豊かな資産を持ちますが、その使い道についてまだ決めていないと語っています。彼は、60代で後継者を選ぶ計画があり、今後もビジネスに関与し続ける可能性があると述べています。これは、彼の人生計画と、財産の意味に対する考え方を物語ります。

💡ユニークネス

主人公は、日本のビジネスパーソンの中でも、一般的に見られる合意主義とは異なる独自性を持っています。彼は、その独自性はビジネス構築においてチャレンジである一方で、もはやアドバンテージと捉えています。これは、個人の強みと社会的環境との間の関係を物語るキーワードです。

Highlights

The speaker raised a hundred billion dollar fund, which was met with skepticism by some.

Experiences of discrimination in Japan for being of Korean descent fueled a drive to work harder and prove oneself.

A significant personal loss of 70 billion dollars in net worth was a near bankruptcy experience.

The concept of singularity, where AI surpasses human intelligence, is a core belief shaping the speaker's investments.

A meeting with the deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia led to a substantial 45 billion dollar investment in the fund.

The speaker's upbringing in a small town in Japan and the influence of meeting the head of McDonald's.

The advice received from the head of McDonald's to focus on the computer industry was pivotal.

Inventing the electronic dictionary during university, which was sold to Sharp for 1.7 million dollars.

SoftBank's founding as a 'software bank' during the personal computer's early days.

An early and highly successful investment in Alibaba, which returned 4,500 percent.

The speaker's personal net worth once increased by 10 billion dollars per week, surpassing Bill Gates' wealth temporarily.

The acquisition of Vodafone's mobile telephone business in Japan marked a strategic move towards mobile internet.

Investment in ARM, a semiconductor design house with significant market share in smartphone chips.

A belief in the positive impact of artificial intelligence and its potential to create harmony, not conflict.

The speaker's vision for the future includes creating a better world through technology and investment.

A life plan that includes deciding on a successor between the ages of 60 and 69 to continue the legacy.

The speaker's unique approach and entrepreneurial spirit set him apart in the Japanese business community.

No regrets in life; the speaker would live the same life again given the opportunity.

Transcripts

[Music]

when you told people you were gonna

raise a hundred billion dollar fund did

they tell you you were a little crazy

well some people said did you suffer

discrimination growing up in japan

that made me you know stronger how did

you feel

losing 70 billion dollars of net worth i

was so

close to you know fall down from the

cliff

we almost went bankrupt somehow i

survived

would you fix your tie please well

people wouldn't recognize me if my tie

was fixed but okay

just leave it this way all right

[Music]

i don't consider myself a journalist and

nobody else would consider myself a

journalist i began to take on the life

of being an interviewer

even though i have a day job of running

a private equity firm

how do you define leadership what is it

that makes somebody tick

[Music]

you are clearly one of the world's most

successful technology investors and one

of the world's most successful

businessmen

let me start by asking you about a fund

that you are now raising

the vision fund it's supposed to be a

fund of a hundred billion dollars

yes now that would be the biggest fund

ever raised

so when you told people you were going

raise a hundred billion dollar fund did

they tell you you were

a little crazy well some people said

you had a meeting with a man who was the

deputy crown prince of saudi arabia

who's now the crown prince of saudi

arabia

and as i understand the story you went

in and

in one hour you convinced him to invest

45 billion dollars

no no it's not true okay

45 minutes 45 billion okay sorry

okay i apologize in other words if you

had

one one billion dollars per minute what

could you have said that was that

persuasion to get 45 billion in one

meeting

well actually uh i said

you came to tokyo the first time i want

to

i want to give you a gift i want to give

you

a masa gift the tokyo gift

a trillion dollar gift and he opened up

his

eyes and said okay

now it's interesting right so i

woke up him and said here is how

we can give you a i can give you a

trillion dollar gift

you invest 100 billion dollars

to my fund i give you a trillion dollars

but what is it that you told people what

was the vision that you actually gave

them

so one vision which is singularity

singularity is the concept that

the computing power comp computers

artificial intelligence

surpass mankind's

brains the singularity is the concept

the word means

that is the point at which a computer

becomes

smarter than a human brain yes today

already computer is smarter than mankind

for

chess or goal or weather forecast

to some expert systems computer is

already smarter

but in 30 years most of the subject

that we are thinking they will be

smarter than us

that's my belief let's go back and talk

about your upbringing a bit

so you are of korean descent your

grandfather

came from korea and moved to japan many

years ago

and your parents were born in japan did

you suffer discrimination growing up in

japan

yes i i had some experience

but i feel

now it was good you know that made me

you know stronger to

work harder

so i had to prove that i am

not different from any other guys you

know not inferior

it's the same so i had to work

harder to prove the value

your family adopted a japanese name at

one point well actually in japan

there was at some period japanese

government forced every korean to change

to japanese name

so it was not their intention that

we had you had to change had to change

that made me even

more harder because i was feeling that i

was

hiding something it was even tougher

now you did not grow up in tokyo um

you grew up in a relatively small town

is that right yes

in japan yeah in the southern the

southern part of japan

so at one point is said that you were

very interested in meeting the head of

mcdonald's

in mcdonald's event why were you

interested in being ahead of mcdonald's

did you like mcdonald's food or you just

what was it

well he he he wrote the book and that

book

became the best seller i was so

impressed

and say oh my god this is great

and the guy who wrote about it must be

great so so how old were you when you

wanted to meet him

uh 16 16. so you you managed to get a

meeting with him

i called his his assistant

and long distance call back then it was

so expensive i made

almost 100 calls 60 calls

and say you know this is my name i'm a

student

and could you ask him to spend me

share me some time and could you ask him

and she said

oh i will try but he's not going to meet

with the student

i said well don't decide by yourself

let him decide okay so

i spoke with with the assistant

different

assistants so many times and and they

don't give me the right answer so i said

okay

this is waste of my telephone bill so i

flew into tokyo

and i said i came because the the

phone call become becoming more

expensive than a ticket

so what happened and i said well tell

him

exactly the way i said you don't have to

look at me you don't have to talk to me

you can keep on walking whatever you are

doing

i just want to see his face

for three minutes okay so i'm not

bothering him

i just i'm so impressed and respect him

i want to see him

and if if you tell him that i'm not

going to bother him

time is money he says i'm not gonna

damage his life

she actually asked and he said okay okay

actually he spent 15 minutes with me

talking face to face and he gave you

some advice

which was to learn yeah i asked him

what business should i do computer

that's the one if i were you at your age

at this time of

the you know

this is don't look at the past

industry look at the future industry

that's the one computer industry that's

the one you should focus if i were you

that's the one

so i said wow great okay so i gave you

that advice

you're number one in your class and then

you go to university california berkeley

yes but when you were there

i understand you were not being a

student so much you were doing business

on the side well i was a good student

but i i said you know five minutes i

would

allow other than study i have to make

money

i want to earn ten thousand dollar per

month

and i will allow me myself five minutes

a day

so i asked my friends isn't a good

job that i can earn ten thousand dollars

in five minutes a day but i still

my friend said you're crazy it's

impossible nothing like that you want to

sell drugs

so no no i don't want to do that so i

said okay

what is the best most efficient use of

my time

it's invention it's invention and i have

to file patent

if i get the patent five minutes

if i focus i can come some idea i can

make some idea

so i set alarm clock five o'clock five

minutes

and take take in five minutes i said

come

invention.com

so i did that and it worked it worked

you invented

a machine that helped people translate

languages yeah that one was the

electronic dictionary

the first electron dictionary the many

students used electronic dictionary

the first one i ever made was by myself

first electric dictionary yes

and you sold it to this sharp and you

made a lot of money

yeah uh 1.7 million dollars

so what did you do with 1.7 million then

well i

i used to start softbank

i should so did you move back i did i

did one more project i made another

1.5 million so i made 3.2 million

in 18 months so that is better than 10

000 per month right i stole that to my

friend

look i got 3.2 million dollars

and i kept working only five minutes a

day as

i as i promised you but then after you

graduated and you

made these uh successful inventions you

moved back to japan why did you move

back to japan not that it's

not a great place to move back to but

you're in silicon valley area why not

stay there

i created a company and my employees

asked me to stay

and but i said no i promised to my

mother when i was

when i decided to come study in the

state

she was crying in the airport

and i said no don't cry mom after i

graduate

from the school i come back i promise

she said no you don't come back you know

this is the forever you know

forever no i i promise you don't worry

i promise you so i kept my mind

recently you did the biggest investment

you've ever made in a company called arm

they have 99 market share for any

smartphone that you have in your pocket

i think it's the company is going to be

more valuable than google

all right so you move back to japan and

then you start a company called

softbank uh what was softbank's purpose

what kind of

business were you in so

that was the beginning of the time of

the personal computer

got started so but there's hardware

not enough software so i

aggregate all kinds of software from the

small

software houses and i

i i wholesale to the

you know pc stores so it's like a bank

you know the software's bank it's not

the money bank

the software wholesaling storing

in in my warehouse so it's like a

concept

so it was very successful soft bank

stock is going up

and then you decide at some point to

start investing one of the investments

you made

is considered by many people to be the

most successful investment in the

history of

mankind you invested roughly 20 million

dollars

in alibaba and at the time it went

public it was worth roughly

90 billion dollars so 20 million to 90

billion is a return about 4

500 percent now jack ma is a very

distinguished

individual now now one of the most

successful entrepreneurs in the world

what is it that

made you feel this was worth putting in

20 million dollars

well he had no business plan

and zero revenue

employees maybe 35 40 employees

but his eyes was very

strong strong eyes strong shining eyes

i could tell from the way he talk

the way he look at he has a charisma he

has a leadership

so his business model was wrong it's

the way he talk the way you know he can

bring you know young chinese people

following him before yahoo was so famous

you made an early investment

which was spectacularly successful how

did you hear of yahoo

yeah yeah for us was still private

15 employees and i

convinced jerriann to take 100 million

dollars

of our investment so at the time we

negotiate

we agreed they grew from 15 to 35 people

30 35 people and

we invest 100 million dollar to own 35

percent

and actually went ipo and made a great

return

and at the same time i convinced him to

start

joint venture board of jiafu japan where

we

put 1.2 million dollars they put

0.8 million 2 million startup capita

we own 60 now let's talk about one big

mistake you made overall

obviously you're very successful in

almost everything you've touched but

you were making a lot of internet

investments around the turn of the

century around year 2000

1999 2001 the market went down in the in

the in the tech crash

and it is said that you personally lost

70 billion dollars of net worth the

greatest loss that any human being has

ever suffered financially

so how did you feel losing 70 billion

dollars of net worth

one year before that actually my

net worth personal net worth was

increasing 10 billion dollar per week

for

three days i became richer than bill

gates

was that that upset him or no before i

talked to anybody else you know our

stock

started crashing okay

so in in six months after that

our share price went down 99

so we almost went bankrupt

and somehow i survived you rebuilt your

business

and among the things you did was you

bought some very well-known companies so

you bought

vodafone's uh mobile telephone business

in

japan at that time i said now is the

time to go

next stage which is the internet will

become

mobile internet so i have to

either get the license from the

government

for the spectrum or acquire

border from japan and first i

applied for the license to the

government and the government said no

there is no more spectrum

i actually sued the government

and uh you know for one year big fight

but

then uh then the border from japan

became available

20 billion dollars i had two billion

dollars

so 18 billion that are short so where'd

you get the money

so i convinced the bank

you know that the vote upon japan i'm

going to turn around

and we'd become successful and become

great cash flow

believe me and lend me money and they

did

they did and it turned out to be very

successful and recently

you did the biggest investment you've

ever made in a company called arm

yeah which is harm which is a

semiconductor manufacturer based in

london why did you spend 31 billion

dollars buying a semiconductor

manufacturer when many people think that

that's not the future

it's uh actually i study 4 billion 34.

yeah

it's not the manufacturer it's a design

design house they design

all the chips chipset they have 99

market share for any smartphone that you

have in your pocket

is um has 99 market share

right in next 20 years it's going to be

they're going to ship

1 trillion chips designed for 1 trillion

chips

so i said this is

this is the company this is you know

nobody can live in the on the earth

anymore without

chip chip is everywhere in the car

in your refrigerator everywhere so

if if chip is something that everybody

needs

and if there is one company has 90

market share

there must be a value they're not

monetizing well enough

but if i own it we can monetize much

better

so that's my belief so i think it's

the company is going to be more valuable

than google

so let me ask you it's not available

it's private company now

so you don't worry that the robots could

become so smart they could wipe out

humanity as some people

worry there is a danger but when the

robot

super intelligence go beyond mankind's

intelligence

and they say well fighting is the

not efficient way of living the harmony

is better

now in the future you are a big believer

in robots

it is your view i guess that artificial

intelligence is a good thing and

ultimately will not

hurt humanity is that correct right so

you don't worry that

the robots could become so smart they

could wipe out humanity as some people

worry

yeah there is a danger of that there is

a danger

but if you look at the mankind history

people were killing each other with many

battles

diff among different tribes and rays and

so on

but today's world we don't have that

kind of things

everyday life we we are more civilized

so when the robot super intelligence

go beyond mankind's intelligence and

they say

well fighting is the not

efficient way of living the harmony is

better

it's more social so we

we're going to live in harmony and they

think about us

they help us and they

try to amuse us and have a

good love for each other what gives you

the greatest pleasure in the world

well the thing is you know i have a

vision

i have a vision of singularity that's

really coming

so we create a vision fun

right we go and change the world

together

and create a better world better world

for

for human living

so that excites me you know what is

thinking about what is the future what

is the

how we can change the life of people

for the better humanity right so that

people

don't need to die for unnecessary

reasons

like having accidents or having the

disease

or having the disaster to protect

human from all those you know

sadness is a good thing right so

imagining those things and investing

and create a group and having great

product

great solution is exciting

and now today you've come back and

you're having enormous

net worth by any human standards one of

the richest men in the world

what do you do with all this money well

i haven't decided

what to do you haven't decided but

you're 60 years old now you've got to

decide at some point

deciding how to spend with

respect is more difficult than making

money

that was a headache i had when i when i

you know

became soldiers were the richest man in

the world you had the headache then you

lost that headache

now you've got it again right you have

any plans to keep doing this for another

10 years or 20 years

yeah in my age of 19 i

created 50 years my life plan and

in my age of 60s from between 60 and 69

i would decide my successor and have my

successor keep on running it

so in my next 10 years i have to do that

but even after i find a successor

and give him a baton to run as a

captainship

i would probably stay working with him

coaching him and

you know as long as i leave probably i i

i cannot give forget about this

excitement your parents are still alive

they must be extremely

proud of you well they're they're

actually very proud of me

and they are very happy we are happy

family

and you know we don't live together

but they they call me occasionally and

you know my dad is funny guy he

he has a unique idea crazy idea and

he always called me and said masa i got

an idea

you have to do this she he knows

everything i'm doing and

he's very creative very smart and he

talked about business to me all the time

now you are japanese and uh but you're

of korean descent

but you're different than most japanese

business people who are very

um consensus oriented not maybe as

entrepreneurial as you are

has that been a challenge for you in

building up your business in japan

yeah lots of challenge but

the uniqueness is actually good you know

if the pack of other people this way

i am unique i have more opportunity so

the difficulty turn

if you flip over become the advantage so

final question if you could live your

life over an extraordinary story

is there anything you would do

differently than you've done

i may but this is the life i'm

enjoying so much that i would love to do

it again

i was so lucky i was so close to

you know fall down from the cliff so i

don't know

i can do it twice

[Laughter]

but but this is definitely an

exciting life i'm having fun