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Live On Stage
Thursday October 3 2024, 7pm BST

Lionel Barber and Zanny Minton Beddoes on the Story of SoftBank and the World’s Wildest Investor

Politics &
Economics

Japan’s Masayoshi Son is a gambler – of epic proportions. He has made and lost several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1trn in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Alibaba, China’s internet colossus, before the world had heard about it. He plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a miracle product. And he invested in hundreds of tech start-ups, helping to fuel the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen.

Son’s appetite for risk is like no other. He has spent billions supporting the visions of founders like WeWork’s Adam Neumann only to lose billions. Yet despite the reverses, Son has never abandoned his belief that technology, particularly artificial intelligence, will change our lives for the better.

On October 3, former FT Editor Lionel Barber and ~Editor-in-Chief of The Economist Zanny Minton Beddoes come to Intelligence Squared to discuss what we can learn from Son’s remarkable story. Drawing on Barber’s new book Gambling Man they will tell of Son’s birth in a Korean slum in post-war Japan through to doing deals at Donald Trump’s skyscraper in Manhattan, at the royal palaces of Riyadh and in the throne rooms of China’s Marxist rulers; all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of techno-optimism, financial engineering and radical risk-taking.

They will also talk about what Son’s story tells us about the tech industry and the unprecedented risks and opportunities in today’s global economy.

Join us live at the Tabernacle, ask your questions and hear how a man shaped the global tech industry by constantly chasing the next big thing.

Gambling Man: The wild ride of Japan’s Masayoshi Son
by Lionel Barber

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Event Name

Lionel Barber and Zanny Minton Beddoes on the Story of SoftBank and the World’s Wildest Investor



Speaker
  • Lionel Barber

    Author and former editor of the Financial Times

Speaker
  • Zanny Minton Beddoes

     Editor-in-Chief of The Economist


Location
  • The Tabernacle
  • 34-35 Powis Square
  • Notting Hill
  • London
  • W11 2AY
Time
  • Thursday 3 October 2024
  • 7pm to 8:30pm BST





Speakers

Speaker

Lionel Barber

Author and former editor of the Financial Times


Editor of the Financial Times (2005-2020), 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 and his forthcoming book is Gambling Man: The Wild Ride of Japan’s Masayoshi Son.
Speaker

Zanny Minton Beddoes

 Editor-in-Chief of The Economist


 Editor-in-Chief of The Economist. She is a renowned global economics expert, sought-after for her authoritative perspectives on the world economy. She previously worked at the IMF, and as an adviser to the Minister of Finance in Poland.