Who We Are — SoftBank Group Report 2026

Since our founding, we have always remained true to our goal of accelerating the Information Revolution to make the world a happier place.

Just what is happiness?

Some might say happiness is to love and be loved in return, or to make the most of each day. Others might derive happiness from self-expression.
Still others might find happiness in something as simple as a smile. Above all, we equate happiness with inspiration. Through our business, we strive to bring emotional meaning and happiness to lives. In everything we do, we aim to drive the Information Revolution and build a more connected, empowered, and joyful world.
This unchanging kokorozashi (mission) is encapsulated in our philosophy, Information Revolution—Happiness for everyone.

Humankind stands on the cusp of an era of dramatically increasing computing performance, and we are getting ever closer to an age of superintelligence that will surpass human ability. Our mission is to harness the raw, unlimited power of the Information Revolution and channel it in a direction that makes people happier.
This aspiration will continue to drive us toward further growth for many years to come.

Imagine a group of visionaries who share the same unshakable spirit (kokorozashi). They act with one mind to achieve their ideals, braving all dangers to usher in a new era amid upheaval. The Group draws inspiration from one such group—the Kaientai, an enterprising shipping company founded in 1865 by the visionary Sakamoto Ryoma.
Supplied with the best intelligence and possessing abundant knowledge and wisdom, the Kaientai and its founder rejected age-worn feudalistic values in favor of free thinking and bold action.
In this way, they led a revolution that resulted in the modernization of Japan. Our corporate logo derives from the Kaientai’s flag. It represents our admiration for and belief in the Kaientai’s single-minded pursuit of their vision, which imagined a Japan 100 years into the future.

The Group is a fleet of similar visionaries. Our vessels fly the banner of the 21st-century Kaientai, symbolizing our own single-minded pursuit of a vision: “Information Revolution—Happiness for everyone.”

To realize our philosophy and vision, we invest in the Information Revolution.

As we move toward the ASI (Artificial Superintelligence) era, the Information Revolution is advancing into the future at an unprecedented pace.
By driving the evolution of humanity and the world, it will help address complex global challenges and contribute to realization of sustainability.

As we move closer to an ASI-driven future, we will continue to make steady progress toward the realization of the world we have envisioned since our founding—one in which people can lead happier lives.

AI will fundamentally transform the very nature of society as it spreads across all fields and transcends countries and regions.

Our story begins in 1981, when Masayoshi Son founded SOFTBANK Japan. He envisioned the company as a “software bank” that would build infrastructure for the information-driven society. At the time, PC software led the Information
Revolution, but the focus shifted to the internet, then to broadband, and later to smartphones. We have always stood on the frontlines of such shifts.
Adjusting swiftly to market and industry changes, we have always partnered with the paradigm-defining companies of the time and adapted our areas of focus accordingly.

The Information Revolution has now entered another new phase, with AI completely redefining every industry. We invest in AI businesses with world-changing ideas. The aim of these investments is to accelerate groundbreaking technological innovations that can build a more connected, empowered, and joyful world. Believing that the next few decades of AI innovation will surpass all the technological progress of the last three centuries, we work with portfolio companies around the world who share our aspiration to forge this exciting future.

We invest in companies and businesses around the world which lead the acceleration of the Information Revolution and a more connected, empowered, and joyful world for all.

Such investees have innovative ideas for truly world-changing goods and services.
These ideas can solve social issues and make people happier.

By investing in them, we accelerate their business growth and unleash the potential of our core philosophy and vision: “Information Revolution—Happiness for everyone.”

Our strategy is to build a strategically synergized ecosystem of companies. The strategy envisages this group as a symbiotic ecosystem of companies with industry-shaping technologies and business models.

In this ecosystem, we work with visionary entrepreneurs who pioneer new industries. Although we help these business leaders in their decision-making, we respect their autonomy and do not find it necessary to hold a majority stake in their companies. However, we do encourage them to identify with our core philosophy and vision and to work with us in unlocking synergistic growth.

Under this strategy, we have developed an ecosystem of entrepreneurial leaders in AI. These include subsidiaries and Group companies such as Arm, companies in which SBG invests directly with a view to creating value over the long term, and the portfolio companies within SoftBank Vision Funds and other funds.

When a company invests capital into business activities, the resulting value is expected to exceed the initial capital commitment. The company will then reinvest that capital for an even higher return. When this cycle occurs on an ever-greater scale, capital will keep accumulating, generating sustainable growth.

We have three key sources of capital: an ecosystem of portfolio companies, financial capital, and human capital. This capital is both an input and an output. In implementing our business model, we input capital, and this capital is then output back to us in an amount larger than the initial input.