Masayoshi Son Bet Billions on the iPhone—3 Years Before It Existed

Masayoshi Son Bet Billions on the iPhone—3 Years Before It Existed

How the SoftBank CEO convinced Steve Jobs to make the deal of the century.

Masayoshi Son Bets Billions on iPhone—3 Years Before It Happened

Ellison’s home is actually more like a village, an elaborate compound of wooden houses modeled after Japanese imperial palaces. The 23-hectare estate took nearly a decade to design and build, including a lake and waterfall operated by an on-off switch. All buildings are constructed without nails and the mud plaster walls are designed to withstand a 7.3 Richter earthquake. In total, Ellison’s tribute to Japanese culture and history is worth about…