SoftBank, the Japanese telecoms group led by the acquisitive Masayoshi Son, holds stakes in at least 1,300 other companies. None of those deals, however, could measure up to a $20m investment Mr Son made in a fledgling ecommerce company in 2000.
That $20m bought SoftBank 36.7 per cent of Alibaba – a stake that could be worth about $44bn when the Chinese company lists later this year in New York in what could well be the world’s biggest initial public offering.
Shares at SoftBank have doubled in price in the past 12 months, giving the company a market capitalisation of $98bn.
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