Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and CEO of SoftBank, Japan's telecom and Internet giant, is one of his country's few mavericks. When his company placed a $20 million bet 15 years ago on Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce company, plenty of peers considered it too risky a venture. Since then, Son's investment has paid out more than $70 billion, strengthening SoftBank and making him Japan's second richest man.
As Son begins scouring the globe for the next big thing — he recently made an investment in Snapdeal, India's leading web marketplace — corporate Japan should seriously consider emulating his gutsy approach to doing business.
When Son invested in Alibaba, he was motivated not just by China's potential, but also Japan's aging and shrinking market. Son realized something all too many of his peers still don't: Japanese deflation isn't some passing fad, but a demographic phenomenon the Bank of Japan can't reverse by weakening the yen.