Somehow, i sur woman would you fix your tie, please . Vid well, people wouldnrecognis fixed, but ok. Just leave it this way. All right. David iont 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. Ipw do you define leadersh . What is it that makes somebody tick . David you are clearly one of the worlds most Successful Technology investors and one of the worlds most successful businessmen. Let me start by asking you about a fund that youre now raising, the vision fund. It is supposed to be a fund of 100 billion . Masayoshi yes. David now, that would be the biggest fund ever raised. So when you told pe ple you were gonna ra 100 billion fund, did they tell you you were a little crazy . Well, some people said. [laughter] david you had a meeting with with a marowho is the deputy prince of saudi arabia, whos now the crown prince of saudi arabia. And as i understand the story, you went in and in nvest 45 billion. Masayoshi no, no, its not true. David ok. [laughter] masayoshi 45 minutes, 45 billion. David ok. Sorry. Ok. I apologize. Masayoshi so 1 billion per minute. David what could you have said tt was that persuasive to get 45 billion in one meeting . Masayoshi well, actually, i said, you came to tokyo the first time. I want to give you a gift. I want to give you a masa gift, the tokyo gift, a 1 trillion gift. And he opened up his eyes and said ok. Now its interesting. David right. So i woke up him and said, here how we can give you a 1 tr gift. You invest 100 billion to my fund. I give you 1 trillion because my track record is 44 irr, per year. Ry year, compound 44 . Thats my past 18 years. So, you know, even less than that, lets say 30 , in 10 years, you n multiply it by 10x. So if you invest 100 billion, 1 trillion. So i said, im gouna raise 100 billiond. I want you to invest 45. M investing ourself 25. So he said. After i made the speech and presentation, he said, can you invest 45 . He said no. I said, well. I did a nice try at least. Ntuh. So how much you o invest . He said, no. I want to invest 75. If youre investing 25, the remaining is 75. So ito invest all. So i said, no, no. You cannot invest 75. You can invest 45. The remaining i haver o save for the otvestors to invest. Da d wait a second. You meto tell . [laughter] in 45 minutes, you actually raised 75 billion . Wow. Ok. Thats pret impressive. But what is it that you told people and what was the vision that you actually gave them . So, one vision, h is singulaty. Singularity is the concept that the computing power, computers apaificial intelligencess mankinds brains. Sdavid the singularity i the concept. The word means that is the point at which a computer becomes in smarter than a human b masayoshi yes. Today, already, computer is smarter than mankind for chess or go or weather forecasts. To some expert systems, computer is ready smarter. But in0 years, most of the subjecthat we are thinking, they will be smarter than us thats my belief. David lets go back and talk about your upbringing a bit. Ntso you are of korean des your grandfather came from korea and moved to japan many ygo, and your parents were born in japan. Did you suffer discrimination gring up in jan . Masayoshi yes, i had some experience, but i feel now it was good. So i had to prove that i am not different from any other guys, you know, not inferior its same. So i had to work harder to prove the value. David your family adopted a japanese name atne point. Well, actually in japan, there was some period, japanese name. So it was not their intention. We had to. David you had to change. Masayoshi had to change. Thatme even more harder, because i was feeling that i was hiding something. It was even tougher. David now, you did not grow up in tokyo. You grew up in a relatively small town, is that rit, in japan . Masayoshi yes. Yeah, in the southern part. David the southern part of japan . So, point, it is said that you were very interested in meeting the head of mcdonalds. Masayoshi donalds japa. David why were you interested in meeting the head of mcdonalds . Did you like mcdonalds od, or what was it . Masayoshi well, he wrote the book, and that book became the bestseller. I was so impressed and said, oh, my god, this is great and the guy who wrote about it must be great. [laughter] david so how old were you when you wanted to meet him . Masayoshi 16. David 16. So you managed to get a meeting with him. Masayoshalled his assistant, longdistance call. Back then it was so expensive. I made almost 100 call 60 calls, and said, this is my name, im a student, and could you ask him and could you ask him . And she said, oh, i will try, but hes not gonna meet with a s. I said, well, dont decide by yourself. Let him decide. [laughter] so i spoke with the different asstant so many times. And they dont give me the right answer, so i said, ok, this is a was of my telephone bill. So i flew into tokyo and i said, i came because the phone call ng more expensive than air ticket. [laughter] david so what happened . Masayoshi and i said, tell him exactly the way i say it. You dont have to look at me, you dont have to talk to me, you can keep on working, whatever you are doing. I just want to see his face. Ter] masayoshi for 3 minutes. David ok. Masayoshi so im not bothering him. I justim so impressed and respect him, i want to see him. And if you tell him that im not gonna bother him ime is money, he says. Im not gonna damage his life, she actually asked. And he said, ok, ok. Actually, he spent 15 minutes with me, talking facetoface. Masayoshi yeasi i asked him, what ss should i do . Hmm. Computer. Thats the one. If i were you at your age at this time of the, you know. Uh. This isdont look at the past indtry. Look at the future industry. Thats the one,ter industry, thats the one you should focus. If i were you, thats the one. So i said, wow, great. David ok, so he gave you that advice. Youre number one in your class, and then you go to university of california at berkeley. Masayoshi yes. U david but when re there, i understand you were not being a student so much. You were doing busess on the side. Masayoshi well, i was a good student. But d said, 5 minutes i wolow, other than study. I have to mney. I want to earn 10,000 per month. And i will allow me, myself 5 minutes a day. So i asked my friends, isnt there good job that i can earn 10,000 in 5 minutes a day . [laughter] my friends said, youre crazy. Its impossible. Nothing like that. Do want to sell drugs . [laughter] so i said, no i dont want to do that. So i said, ok, what is the best, most efficient use of my time . Its the invention. Its the invention, and i have to file a patent. If i get the patent, 5 minutes. If i focus, i can come some idea, i can make some idea. So i set the alarm clock 5 00 5 minutes. Tick, tick, tick. In 5 minutes, i said, come invention, co [laughter] come right . So i did that. David and it worked . Masayoshi it rked. David you invented a machine that help people translate languages . Masayoi yeah. That one was the electric dictionary, the First Electric dictionary. Many student use the electric dictionary. The first one ever made was by myself. David First Electric dictionary. Masayoshi yes. David and you sold it to sharp . Masayoshi to sharp. David aey you made a lot of m masayoshi yeah, 1. 7 million. David so what dido with 1. 7 million then . Masayoshi well, i use to start softbank. David so, did you move back . Masayoshi i d one more project and made another 1. 5 million. So i made 3. 2 million in 18 months, so that is better than 10,000 per month. David right. I told tha gto my friends, look, 3. 2 million, and i kept working only 5 minutes a day, as i promised you. I had to use several professors and assistant professors in my team. And i told my professor, you work for me. [laughter] the professor told me, work r you . Im your professor. I said, yes, but i have the idea. I inveed idea. You hp me make a prototype, i pay you whatever the hourly rate. You decide. I dont negotiate you want to charge me 500 a dayan hour, or 250, 600 per hour, you decide. Hater you want to charge me 500you ask me. Hour, or 250, 600 per hour, i dont have cash. [laughte so we make a prototype i go and sell. After i get the money, i give you 100 of the money you ask. David ok. Well, it worked out. Masayoshi worked out. David but ther you graduated, and you made these successful inventions, you move back to japan. Is that right . Why did yo back to japan . Not that its not a great place to move back to, but youre in Silicon Valley area. Why not stay there . Masayoshi i created a company and my eloyees ask me to stay. But i said, no. I promised to my mother when i decide to study in the state. She was crying in the airport, and i said, nt cry, mom. After i graduate from the school, i come back, i promise. She said, no, you dont come back. Youthis is the forever, you know, farewell. No, i promise you. Dont worry, i promise you. So i kept my word. David all rso you move back to japan and then you start a Company Called softbank. What was softbanks purpose . What kind of business were you in . Masayoshi so that was the beginning of the time of the personal computer got started. So, but theres hardware, not enough software. So i aggregate all kinds of software from the small softwares. And i wholesale to the pc stores, so its like a bank. Softwares bank. Its not the money bank. The software wholesaling, storing in my warehouse, so its like a concept. David it was very successful, softbanks stock is gog 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 mi. At the time rt went public, it was roughly 90 billion. So million to 90 billion a retur. Now, jack d is a very distinguisdividual, and now one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. What i it that made you feelthis was wn 20 million . Masayoshi he had no Business Plan and zero revenue. Employees. Maybe 35, 40 employees. But his eyes was very strong strong eyes, shining eyes. Could tell from the way he talk, the way he look at, he has the charisma, he has a leadership. So his Business Model was wrong. Its the wan he talk, the way hering Young Chinese people following him. David before yahoo was so famous, you made an early investment in it which was spectacularly successful. How did you hear of yahoo . Masayoshi yahoo u. S. Was still private 15 employees. And i convince them to take 100 so at the time we negotiate, we agree they grew from 15 to 35 people. 35 people. And we invest 100 million to own 35 , and actually wen and made a great return. At te time, i convince him to start joint venture, board of yahoo japan, where we put 1. 2 million, they put 0. 8 million. 2 mil oon startup capital, 60 . David lets talk about one big mistake you made overall. Oby, you are very successful in almost everything you touched, but you were making a lot of internet investments around the turnofthecentury, around year 2000 19992001. The market went down in the tech crash, and it is said that you personally lost 70 billion of net worth, the greatest loss that any human being has ever suffered financially. So how did you feel losing 70 billion of net worth . Masayoshi ear before that, actually, my personal net worth was increasing 10 billion per week. [laughter] masayoshi for 3 days, i became richer than bill gates. David wow. Did that upset him or. [laughter] masayoshi no. Before i talk to anybody else, our stock start crashing. David ok. [laughter] masayoshth so in 6 months afte, our share price went down 99 . Ru so we almost went ba. David you rebuilt your business. And ams g the things you did u bought some very wellknown companies. So you bought vodafones mobile telephone business in japan. Masayoshi at that time, i said, now is the time to go next stage, which is the internetill become mobile internet, so i had tofrither get the licens the government for the spectrum, or acquire Vodafone Japan. And first, i applied for the license to the government. And the government said, no, there is no more spectrum. So i actually sued the government. And, you know, for one year, big fight. But then Vodafone Japan became available. 20 billion. I have 2 billion, so 18 billion short david so e ere did you get ney . Masayoshi so i convince the bank that the Vodafone Japan, im gonna turn around and become successful and become great cash flow. Believnd lend me money. David a they did. Masayoshi they did. David and it turned out to bvery successful. Recently, you did the biggest investment youve ever made in a Company Called a. R. M. Armwhich is a Semiconductor Manufacturer based in london. Why did u spend 31 billion ying a Semiconductor Manufacturer when many pheple think thats notuture . Masayoshi its actually 34 billion. David 34. Masayoshi yeah. Its not the manufacturer. Its the design house. They design all the chip set. They have 99 market share for any smartphone that you have in your pocket. In next 20 years, they gonna ship 1 trillion chips, design for 1 trillion chips. So i said, this is the companythis is nobody can live on the earth anymore without chip. Chip is everywhere in the car, in your refrigerator, everywhere. So if chip is something thatth everybody needs, and ie is one company has 90 market share, there must be a value. Theyre not moneifzing well enough, bu own it, we can monetize much better. So thats my belief. So i think the company is gonna be more valuable than google. Its not available. Its private company now. Davi now in the futureyoue a big. It is your view, i guess, that Artificial Intelligence is a good thing and ully will not hurt humanity, is that correct . Masayoshi right. David so you dont worry that robots could become so smart they could wipe out humanity, as some people worry . Masayoshi yeah, t there is a danger, but if you look at the mankinds history, peoplekilling each other with many battles among different tribes and the race and so on. But todays world, we dont have that kind of things everyday life. We are more civilized. So when the robot superintelligence goeyond mankinds intelligence, and they say, wellfighting is not efficient way of living. The hmony is better. Its more social. So we gonna live in harmony. And they think about us. They aelp us, and they try se us and and have good ve for each other. David what gives you the greatest pleasure in the world . Masayoshi well, the thing i have a vision of singularity. Really coming. So we created vision fund. We go and change the world together and create a better worl better world for human living. So that excite me, you know, what isthinking about what is the future . The how we can change the life of people for the better humanity . Right . So that people dont need to die for unnecessary reasons, like having accident or having the disease or having the disaster. So protect human from all those sadness is good thing. So imagining those things and investing and create a group and having great product, great solution is exciting. David and now today, you come back and have enormous net worth, by any human standards, one of the richest men in the wor. What do you do with all this money . Masayoshi well, i havent decided what to do. David havent decided . But 60 years old now, youve got to decide at some point. That was a headache i had when i became so rich. David when you were the richest man in the world, you had that headaeae, then you lost thatche, now youve got it again, right . You have any plans to keep doing this for another 10 ars or 20 years . Masayoshi yeah. At my age of 19, i create and have my successor keep on running it. So in my next 10 years, i have to do that. But ever i find a successor and give him a baton to run as a captainship, i would probably stay working with him, coaching him, and, uh, as long as i live. Probably, i cannot forget about this excitement. David your parents are still alive. They must be extremely proud of you. Masayoshi they actually are very proud of me, and they are very happy. We are happy family. And, you know, we dont live together, but they call me occasionally. He has unique idea, crazy idea. And he always call me and says, masa, i got idea. You have to do this. He knows everythini am doin. And hes very creative, very smart. And he talk about business to me all the time. David now you are japanese, but you of korean descent. But youre different than most japanesbusiness people who are very consensus oriented, not maybe as entrepreneurial as you are. Has that been a challenge for you in building up your business in japan . Ll masayoshi lots of cge, but the uniqueness is actually good, you know. If the pack of other people are this way, i am unique, i have more opportunities. So the difficulty. Turnif you flip over, become the advantage. David so a fination, if you could live your life over extraordinary story is t re anything you would do differ . Masayoshi i may, but this is the life im enjoying so much, that i would uh. I was so lucky. I was so close to fall down from the cliff. So i dont know i can do it twice. [laughter] but this is definitely exciting life. Im having fun. David well, thank you for giving us your story, and thrdk you for an extrary story that it is. Thank you. Masayoshi thank you very much. [applause] announcer support for the pbs presentation of this program was provided by general motors. I see a future. I see a good future. I roe a future filled with s and no rage. Both we see a future. With zero crashes. Woman i see a future where fossil fuels. Man are a thing othe past. All we see a future with zero emissions. Keeps perfect time. Where intelligence is always by design. Man we see a fu with zero congestion. Zero congestion. Both we are. All general motors. Youre watching pbs. Shes known for breaking barriers and has even been called the most powerful woman in the world, this week on uliring line. My pares cot take me to have a hamburger at the teolworths lunch counter, but they had me abso convinced i could be president of the United States if i wanted to be. When cooleezza rice grew up in the segregated south, she was taught that she could be anything she wanted as lg as she did everything twice as well. Hertfirst dream, to be a con pianist, fell flat. But she would make it onto the world stage. [ cheers and applause ] we cannot be reluctt to lead, and you cannot lead from behind. A trusted advir to the first president bush and then his sont she wahe white house during 9 11 and when the United States went to war with colin powell le big shoes to fill at the state department, but condi rice is the right person to fill them. She went on to become the first africanamerican woman to be sretary o