All Episodes

May 18, 2025 44 mins

Investor Masayoshi Son became notorious for making huge bets on technology companies. He once lost 96% of his fortune, but he’s still a billionaire thanks to successes like Yahoo! and Alibaba. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng tell the tale of the billionaire who founded the conglomerate SoftBank and was once, very briefly, the richest person in the world. As the child of Korean immigrants in Japan, Son’s childhood took in sharing a home with pigs, an obsession with the businessman who brought McDonald’s to Japan, and a move to study in the USA aged 16. The podcast that tells tales of titans of technology, Wall Street moguls, pop stars, sporting legends, CEOs and entrepreneurs also explain how Son overcame a diagnosis that meant he was once given just two years to live. Then Simon and Zing decide if Son is good, bad, or just another billionaire.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Cardiac Cowboys

Cardiac Cowboys

The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.