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1. Tech Billionaire Uncovered
   This book is most impressive of a philanthropist, risk taker and big investor: Masayoshi (Masa) Son. In 1981, he created SoftBank, Japan’s leading PC software distributor; a net worth of $82.77 billion (as of November 25, 2024). This book captures a vivid image of Masa and how he built a business like no other. He made it with impressive results and some would say he acquired a powerful sense of greatness.Who is this man that benefitted from the fast-moving digital age? Masa somehow was able to find the profitable deals as if he was playing an advanced game of chess. He visualized the future and gambled with huge sums of money. He was right on top of the financial game with his private jets to meet with top tech leaders and potential start-up companies.The book was engaging with conversations Lionel Barber tracked down from an extensive amount of research and interviews. He was able to get into the head of Masa and how he had a deep desire to be wealthy and more powerful than any other man. The book showcased the rapidly moving innovations in the tech world.It’s well written and brings back memories of pinball machines, floppy discs, dial-up connections and the long lines for the first Apple iPhones. Barber ended the book with Masa’s imagination and thoughts on what’s next.While reading about the billions of funds controlled by people like Masayoshi Son, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Elon Musk and others, it’s a natural response to think of what more they could be doing for climate change, poverty and peace in our world. Much of the book reminds readers of what has happened with technology and misleading information. It makes us wonder if it has made our world a better place. This book would make an excellent one for discussions.

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2. One of the best tech bios in recent memory
   Lionel did an excellent job uncovering some amazing stories of Masa and Softbank. Definitely a page-turner for anyone interested in business, tech, venture capital, or power. My biggest takeaway is that Masa can be described as a Forrest Gump figure living in a Kafka novel. Always finding himself in the right place at the right time, against a chaotic backdrop.

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3. Terrific book . Finished it in two sittings

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4. First things first: this is a brilliant book, which is easy to read, and packed full of insight.Hence the five stars.In this his latest book Gambling Man, former FT editor Lionel Barber’s takes readers on a faintly breath-taking thirty-year ride charting the rise of Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of one of the most important companies you might never have heard of, Softbank. More than possibly anyone else over the past thirty years, Masa took advantage of the near zero short-term interest rates available in Japan (1990s) and then globally (2000s-2020) to propel Softbank forwards in a dizzying display of global deal-making in which he picked out not only the central importance of technology, but also the rise of China. While not everything Masa touched turned to gold – weWork being the most notable flameout in 2019 – the gigantic returns Softbank reaped on Alibaba and ARM among others clearly demonstrated Masa as someone who made his own luck through extraordinary effort as opposed to simply being lucky.Economists should want to read this book just as much for the big corporate stories described as for the inside scoop on Softbank, and how the biggest deals – across multiple industries and in multiple geographies – were the result of macroeconomic and geopolitical changes that Masa had the foresight to envision, and then to position himself to take advantage of as at least some of his dreams came true.Simultaneously charting in a highly readable manner both the rise of Softbank AND the geopolitical changes it took advantage of, while doing so insightfully for experts and non-experts alike, is no mean feat. In fact I can think of few people other than Lionel Barber who would have been able to pull it off so well.While the world may temporarily be pre-occupied by the return of US President Donald Trump and the technological-industrial complex now cosying up to him, the thirty-year rise of Softbank and the wild ride of Masayoshi San is too important a story not to read if you want to have the best chance of being able to piece together and understand how the biggest global stories in economics, politics, finance and industries are all related.

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5. Lionel Barber provides an engrossing read of one of the greatest investors of all time. The life story (so far) of Masayoshi Son is an incredible story of rags to riches. Mr Barber provides a very well researched history with many personal interviews with key players. The book offers an intriguing answer to the riddle of what produces success: some luck, which can be good and bad, persistence despite setbacks and a vision of where success will be. I enjoyed the telling.

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6. Japanese business culture is notoriously difficult to penetrate for outsiders or foreigners. It’s especially complex when the protagonist is an outsider himself — a member of Japan’s long discriminated-against Korean minority. So Barber’s achievement is especially notable. He even manages to interview Son’s father shortly before he died. And for the first time drew on first hand accounts from many, if not most, of Son’s business associates from his earliest days on. A compelling read.

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7. This man has great self belief & is prepared to bet heavily on himself – recommended

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