Summary Masayoshi Son built Softbank Corp. into one of Japan's leading distributors of computer magazines and software. His initial edge came from spotting the potential of e-commerce. Gains on Son's core holdings in the late 1990s turned Softbank into a major source of venture capital in Silicon Valley. Son then devised a “time machine strategy” to replicate his achievements in Japan, since Japan was several years behind the United States in terms of Internet development. Son's strategy has had awkward results in a bear market, with Softbank's fortunes plunging almost as fast as they rose. Analysis Masayoshi Son started life with a handicap he turned into an advantage. As a member of Japan's ethnic-Korean minority, he found himself excluded from the clubby environs of “Japan Inc.,” the country's traditional business establishment.