It started as a software distributor, grew into a telecom giant,

它以軟體經銷商起家，之後轉型成電信公司龍頭

and now spans many industries, pouring billions of dollars

現在更擴展至不同產業，投入幾十億資金

into the likes of Alibaba, Uber and WeWork.

到阿里巴巴、優步以及 WeWork

Its founder and CEO meets with Donald Trump

軟銀集團的創辦人和執行長與美國總統川普會面

and forms business deals with Saudi Arabia's royal family.

並且與沙烏地阿拉伯的皇室達成商業協議

And yet, it's a company you may know little about.

然而，你對這公司並不是很了解

Softbank is ranked number 38 on Forbes' list of the World's Biggest Public Companies.

軟銀集團在富士比全球最大上市公司排名 38 名

That's a few slots higher than General Motors and IBM.

稍贏過通用汽車和 IBM

And far ahead of Amazon, Coca-Cola and Walt Disney.

排名遠高於亞馬遜、可口可樂和迪士尼

Its business dealings really know no limits.

它們的業務範疇相當廣泛

They include telecommunications, e-commerce, finance,

包括通訊、電子商務、金融

technology services, semiconductor design, media and marketing,

科技、半導體設計、媒體及行銷

a baseball team and even a robot.

棒球隊，甚至還有機器人

This is Pepper.

這是 Pepper

It's a humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank,

它是由軟銀集團製造的人性化機器人

designed with the ability to read human emotions and even analyze voice tone.

能夠理解人類情緒以及分析聲音

So who is behind it all?

而誰在這一切背後操刀呢？

Founder and CEO, Masayoshi Son.

就是兼任創辦人與執行長的孫正義

He was born in a small town in Japan and moved to California at the age of 16.

他在日本的一個小鎮出生，之後在十六歲的時候移民去美國加州

He graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Economics in 1980.

他於 1980 年畢業於加州大學柏克萊分校的經濟學學士

Son is known for his fierce business strategies, and they seem to pay off.

孫正義以他強硬的商業策略為名，而那些策略似乎都奏效

After meeting with then President-elect Donald Trump in 2016,

2016 年在會面完總統當選人川普之後

it was announced that Son would invest $20 billion in the U.S. tech sector.

孫正義宣布他將會投資美國科技領域兩百億美金

After the announcement in the Trump Tower lobby, Softbank's stock surged more than 6%,

在川普大樓宣布此決定之後，軟銀集團的股價漲幅超過 6%

making Son instantly $2 billion richer.

使孫正義身價瞬間增加二十億

Son is now Japan's richest man.

孫正義是現在日本最有錢的男人

Yet a big part of Softbank's success and size, may actually have

然而軟銀集團成功的一大因素

less to do with Japan and more to do with China.

其實跟中國有很大的關係

In 2000, Softbank made its most successful investment, putting $20 million into Alibaba.

在 2000 年，軟銀集團投資阿里巴巴兩千萬美元，為它們成功的投資

Fourteen years later, that investment turned into an estimated $60 billion payday

十四年後，那項投資估計成長至六百億美金

when the Chinese e-commerce giant went public.

當中國電子商務龍頭上市

That's almost a 300,000% gain in 14 years.

那項投資在十四年中將近有 300,000% 的成長率

With returns like that, it's no wonder Softbank's become an investing powerhouse.

有那樣的投資報酬率，難怪軟銀集團變成一個投資強手

Last year, Softbank invested in more than half of the top 10

去年，軟銀集團投資超過一半排名前十的

biggest investments in VC-backed startups.

創投新創公司

That included ride-hailing giants, Didi Chuxing, Grab and Ola,

其中包括叫車龍頭、滴滴打車、Grab 和 Ola

as well as, Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce giant.

還有印度電子商務龍頭 Flipkart

And those investments are coming whether companies want them or not.

不論那些公司是否需要，那些資金都會投入

When Didi Chuxing and Uber said they didn't need Softbank's money,

當滴滴打車和優步說它們不需要軟銀集團的資金

Son threatened to invest in their rivals instead.

孫正義反而威脅要去投資他們的對手

Needless to say, the companies took the cash.

所以理所當然，那些公司就拿了現金

Then there's the acquisitions. In 2016, Softbank purchased

接著就是企業併購，在 2016 年，軟銀集團

European semiconductor firm, Arm Holdings, for $31 billion,

用三百一十億美元歐洲半導體公司安謀控股

the biggest purchase of a European tech company - ever.

為歐洲史上最大型的科技業併購案

Google-owner Alphabet also sold its robotics firm Boston Dynamics

Google 母公司 Alphabet 也將自己的機器人設計公司—波士頓動力公司

to Softbank in 2017 for an undisclosed amount.

在 2017 年用未公開價格賣給軟銀集團

Much of Softbank's recent investments are part of what's known as the Vision Fund -

許多軟銀集團的近期投資都是願景基金的一部分

it's the largest technology investment fund in history.

它是歷史上最大的科技投資基金

While the $100 billion fund is primarily backed by Softbank,

雖然一千億的資金主要是由軟銀集團支撐

it also includes massive investments from Apple, Qualcomm, Sharp

但它也包含蘋果、高通、夏普的大量投資

and the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

沙烏地阿拉伯和阿拉伯聯合大公國的主權基金

The fund has also invested billions of dollars into about 30 companies -

這項基金也投資大約三十間公司數十億美元

including Uber, ARM, Nvidia and WeWork.

包括優步、ARM、輝達和 WeWork

It recently announced a $200 billion power generation project in Saudi Arabia,

而它最近宣布投資一項沙烏畢阿拉伯兩千億美元的電力發電計畫

which would be the world's biggest solar project.

為全球規模最大的太陽能計劃

And it isn't stopping there.

而這不是終點

The fund wants to become the largest shareholder

願景基金想成為世界前百大科技公司

in 100 tech companies around the world once it's done investing its money -

最大的股東一旦它完成投資所有的錢

creating the biggest ecosystem of tech companies in the world.

建立全世界最大的科技系統