A conversation with Lionel Barber, former editor of the Financial Times, as he unveils in France for the first time his new biography of Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank.

The book – Gambling Man - is a fascinating story of the improbable rise of Son, born in a gritty Korean neighborhood in post-war Japan, ascending against the odds to build – and lose, and build again – several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1 trillion in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Yahoo then Alibaba, China’s internet colossus, lost billions backing Adam Neumann’s WeWorks, and dozens of other start-ups that fueled the biggest boom in Silicon Valley’s history.

Son has never abandoned his belief that technology, particularly artificial intelligence, will change our lives for the better, and his controlling investment in Arm Holdings gives him a ringside seat on the AI boom.

Lionel will appear in conversation with Duncan Clark, co-chair of Asia Society France, and himself author of a best-selling book on Alibaba, whose early rise owes a lot to the gamble taken by Masayoshi Son on Jack Ma.

Speaker 

Lionel Barber 

Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times from 2005 to 20, is an author, broadcaster, and lecturer. During four decades as an award-winning journalist, he has interviewed many world leaders and leading CEOs. He is a regular visitor to Japan.

Event Partner

Comité d'échanges franco-japonais