Top 116 Quotes & Sayings by Masayoshi Son - Page 2

God is so kind, he has given so much sunshine to India.

I always have a big idea. It pops up every two to three years.

We have lots of ideas, lots of dreams.

I am not trying to chase what other people are doing.

Back in the year 2000, most of the Internet companies were not making any money.

When Gates was active in business, he was the smartest - so focused that no company could surpass Microsoft.

To many of you, Sprint may seem like a burden for SoftBank. But in my view, Sprint is going to be one of SoftBank's primary cash cows.

I think in terms of 20-year horizons.

We are not experts on everything. We are not capable of doing everything by ourselves. There are a bunch of other smarter people around the world.

I was richer than Bill Gates for 3 days.

Most of the time, when I make a big move, people say I am out of my mind. But I don't think about how I can add to what I have today.

Every street light will be interconnected to the Internet because we can save when car is not passing. Automobile will all be connected, so driverless car much safer.

I have no intention of making small bets.

My style is to have a big vision, a big commitment.

I said from the very beginning, 'Yahoo should position itself as a technology innovation company, not as a media company.'

I'm still committed to the success of the U.K. and the belief of the strong intelligence and passion and determination of the British people. I'm a strong believer of their long-term historical success.

My passion never fades out.

The autonomous car is definitely coming, and when that stage comes, this ride-share business becomes even more important.

Money is available from investors as long as you have a great business model and a talented leader.

Some kind of correction will always happen. But it depends on the specific companies.

I am actually better at predicting or talking about 30 years later than three years.

SoftBank is not a specialist on any instrument. We did not invent any instrument. Not the best player. But we would like to be a conductor of this information revolution.

Uber has to design for the global platform.

Yahoo was Jerry Yang's baby. He did a great job creating the baby. Unfortunately, some of the key executives after the foundation of the company couldn't keep up with the technology innovation of the industry. They thought that Yahoo should become a media company.

When you negotiate a deal, you clearly know a lot about the other person.

I think Snapdeal could become the Alibaba of India.

When I was a kid, our family was not that rich.

It's actually sad to be rich.

When the founders retire, it's always difficult for the second generation and third generation.

If I go to the department store, I get no excitement: I can buy the entire department store instead of one bag. So I lost excitement of shopping.

We feel a brand should be free.

If they had listened to me and had equal partnerships in China, the U.K., Germany and Brazil, maybe Yahoo in those countries could have become positioned like Yahoo Japan.

When those super intelligence goes into robots, those robots with the super intelligence will change our lives.

Renewables is part of social responsibility, but the information revolution is the only main thing I am interested in.

The year 2000, I was the richest for three days. So I know up and down.

Alibaba is Alibaba. We are going to keep on, you know, having Alibaba as our core company in our family.

Best thing for a government to do is to eliminate obstacles like filing registrations, getting licences, and so on... tedious steps slow everything down.

I try to look in the future and think backwards. That is when I am at my most comfortable. Because then I am just like the movie, 'Back to the Future.'

India has the best opportunity ahead of us.

Softbank 2.0 means globalisation of Softbank.

I am the man who keeps his words.

It struck me deep in my mind. Some day, the chip is going to surpass mankind's brain.

I think I would have kept in contact with venture capital investors and entrepreneurs. I'm sure staying involved as something like a coach would be fun. If I handed over the reins to a successor, I wouldn't stick around [to pull strings] like a retired emperor.

I would say that hardware is the bone of the head, the skull. The semiconductor is the brain within the head. The software is the wisdom and data is the knowledge.

If something happened, like engineers starting to quit, things would go downhill fast.

I don't care about the sort of things that will bring in chump change over the next two or three years. I think I'm better than others at sniffing out things that will bear fruit in 10 or 20 years while they're still at the seed stage, and I'm more willing to take the risks that entails.

[Simon Segars ] came by a few times.I told him, "If you understand the future of the internet of things that much, then you should add more engineers and go on the offensive." Simon had explained to analysts and others that he intended to do that sort of forward-looking investment, but he said it's tough for a listed company considering its share price falls if profits drop.

I'd met Simon [Segars] for the first time in London. He struck me as a quiet, natural-born engineer and an orthodox successor [to East]. He has a home in Silicon Valley, and he said it's just a few minutes' drive away from mine.

Having made up my mind, I went to see Steve [Jobs]. I brought a hand-drawn sketch with me, and I said, "Please make something like this." He said, "Don't show me such an ugly design sketch." But he also said, "You've got the right idea. I totally agree that the time has come when we can make the ultimate mobile machine."

I thought I might spend the rest of my time on golf. But thinking about it now, I'm happy playing whenever I have some downtime in my busy schedule, and even if I had all the time I wanted to play, my score probably wouldn't be very good.

But a big paradigm shift is staring us in the face. If I left things to someone else despite having my own thoughts on it, I wouldn't be true to myself.

I haven't invented anything earth-shattering. If I could be said to have one noteworthy ability compared with the average person, it's that I have a keen interest in reading the direction and timing of paradigm shifts.

Whatever the country, whatever the culture, whatever the time, when you become a big enough organization, you start to collapse and slow down.

I'm a man, and I think every man wants to be No. 1.

Jack's [Ma Yun ] theory is that whoever controls data controls the world.

Our proposal had more than just money. We would increase their staff and keep their headquarters, their brand and their management in place. We made them a comprehensive offer they couldn't refuse. Shareholders simply receive cash, but with the staff and management, we had to show that we could share the same vision. Employees would probably resent us if money were all [we offered].