Masayoshi Son Scraps Retirement, Vows Decade at SoftBank

[Retirement](/article/nadal-rules-out-comeback-that-chapter-is-closed)-that-chapter-is-closed), Cancelled

Masayoshi Son has decided he is not done. Speaking at SoftBank Group's annual shareholders' meeting, the 68-year-old founder told investors he intends to keep running the company for another 10 to 15 years, a sharp reversal of the long-held plan to step aside before his 70th birthday. The pledge was reported by Nippon.com on June 24, 2026.

Rather than easing toward the exit, Son cast his 70s as the decade in which he hopes to push SoftBank toward what he calls "artificial superintelligence." Nippon.com reports that roughly 2,000 shareholders joined the gathering in person or online to hear him lay out his renewed ambitions, a sign of how closely the company's fortunes remain tied to its founder's appetite for the next big idea.

A Staggering Target

Son did not frame his extended tenure modestly. He set out an aggressive long-range goal: lifting SoftBank's net asset value 14-fold, to 1 trillion yen, within 16 years, with the company concentrating on four key AI-related business areas to get there. "As long as we do it, we want to be the world's best," he told the room, a line that captured both the scale of the target and the temperament behind it.

The ambition signals just how completely Son has reoriented SoftBank around artificial intelligence following a bumpy stretch for its Vision Fund investments. The shift can be read across a few clear threads:

• AI is no longer one bet among many, but the company's defining mission.
• The four-area focus narrows SoftBank's sprawl into a more concentrated wager.
• The 16-year horizon binds the strategy to Son's own extended timeline.

In other words, the man and the plan are now hard to separate.

Why It Matters

For a founder who once sketched out a careful succession roadmap, choosing to stay on is no small reversal. It keeps SoftBank closely fused to the vision, conviction and risk tolerance of a single leader at exactly the moment the company is funneling vast sums into AI infrastructure around the world. That concentration cuts both ways, and reactions are likely to divide along predictable lines.

Supporters will read continuity and resolve into the decision, pointing out that few executives can match Son's track record of spotting platform shifts early. Skeptics may worry about the risks of so much power resting with one person and the lingering absence of an obvious heir, questions that tend to grow louder as a founder ages. Both views can be true at once, which is part of what makes the announcement consequential.

The Road Ahead

What happens next will hinge on execution. A target as bold as a 14-fold increase in net asset value invites scrutiny at every quarterly turn, and investors who cheered the vision today will expect milestones along the way. Succession will remain a live issue too; extending his tenure buys Son time but does not resolve the eventual handoff.

Either way, Nippon.com's reporting leaves little doubt about how Son himself sees this chapter. He regards the AI era as the culmination of his career, and he plainly intends to be at the controls as it unfolds, betting that SoftBank can emerge as one of the world's preeminent AI powers under his continued, and now considerably longer, leadership.