Gambling Man, Lionel Barber
Gambling Man, Lionel Barber
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Gambling Man
The Secret Story of the World's Greatest Disruptor, Masayoshi Son

Author: Lionel Barber

Narrator: Keong Sim

Unabridged: 12 hr 25 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/21/2025


Synopsis

The former editor of the Financial Times delivers, “with literary flair and stunning revelations” (Steve Coll, Pulitzer Prize winner), the unputdownable first Western biography of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, financial disruptor and personification of the 21st century’s addiction to instant wealth.

As Wall Street swooned and boomed through the last decade, our livelihoods have—now more than ever—come to rely upon the good sense and risk appetites of a few standout investors. And amidst the BlackRocks, Vanguards, and Berkshire Hathaways stands arguably the most iconoclastic of them all: SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son.

In this “meticulously researched, balance, thoroughly readable” (Booklist, starred review) biography, we go behind the scenes of the world’s most monied halls of power in New York, Tokyo, Silicon Valley, Saudi Arabia, and beyond to see how Son’s firm SoftBank has defied conventional wisdom and imposing odds to push global tech and commerce into the future.

From the dizzying highs of Uber, DoorDash, and Slack to the epic lows of WeWork and tech-infused dog-walking app Wag, Son and SoftBank have been at the center of cutting-edge capitalism’s absolute peaks and valleys. In the process, Son, son of a pachinko kingpin who grew up in a slum in Japan, has been a hero, a villain, and even a meme-ified hero to the internet tech- and finance-bro set all at once.

Based on in-depth research and eye-opening interviews, Gambling Man is “not only a first-rate biography of an elusive billionaire” (Bloomberg), it’s also an alarming true story of 21st-century commerce that will stick with you long after you turn the final page.

About Lionel Barber

Lionel Barber is the former editor of the Financial Times. As editor, he interviewed many of the world’s leaders in business and politics, including US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Barber has cowritten several books and has lectured widely on foreign policy, transatlantic relations, and economics. He also served on the Board of Trustees at the Tate and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. He graduated in 1978 from St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, with a joint honors degree in German and modern history and speaks French and German fluently. 


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jackie on November 25, 2024

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 li......more

Goodreads review by Matteo on February 03, 2025

Great biography of Masayoshi Son, the Korean-Japanese founder of SoftBank, the man who lost the most wealth (and then remade it!)......more

Goodreads review by Indra on February 18, 2025

Thank you to Atria Books for this ARC! Masayoshi Son is one of the most fascinating figures in modern finance—part visionary, part gambler, and entirely unpredictable. In Gambling Man, Lionel Barber delivers the first Western biography of the SoftBank CEO, offering an in-depth look at the man who has......more

Goodreads review by Mauricio P Dulon on March 22, 2025

The Gambling Man - The secret story of the World’s greatest disruptor - Masayoshi Son. The boom depicts the story of the Forrest Gump in the financial and tech world. Masa is an important character in the most pivotal moments in technology since the 70’s. He was there interacting and investing with......more

Goodreads review by Priit on March 23, 2025

Probably one of the greatest risk takers in the world – Masayoshi Son, founder and CEO of SoftBank. He has taken extraordinarily large risks throughout his life. Some of them have succeeded — like Alibaba, Arm Holdings, DoorDash, and Nvidia. Others have failed completely, like WeWork. He has shown an......more