Lionel Barber

Gambling Man is the biography of one of the worlda s least known but most consequential investors Japana s Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes investing or controlling assets worth 1 trillion in the past two decades through his media tech giant SoftBank He bankrolled Alibaba Chinaa s internet colossus before the world had heard about it plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a wonder product and financed hundreds of tech start ups fuelling the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen This book takes you on Sona s wild ride from his birthplace in a Korean slum in post war Japan to the modern day temples of power It speeds through Donald Trumpa s golden skyscraper in Manhattan the royal palaces of Riyadh and the throne rooms of Chinaa s Marxist rulers all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of financial engineering and crazy risk taking Sona s story captures a 25 year span of hyper globalisation in which money technologies and ideas flowed freely From the launch of the microchip to the advent of artificial intelligence he has ridden the technological wave which has created extraordinary wealth and economic change His topsy turvy business career is testimony to the power of optimism daring to dream ever in sea

The former editor of theFinancial 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 centurys addiction to instant wealth.As Wall Street swooned and boomed through the last decade, our livelihoods havenow more than evercome 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: SoftBanks Masayoshi Son. In this meticulously researched, balance, thoroughly readable (Booklist, starred review) biography, we go behind the scenes of the worlds most monied halls of power in New York, Tokyo, Silicon Valley, Saudi Arabia, and beyond to see how Sons 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 capitalisms 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), its also an alarming true story of 21st-century commerce that will stick with you long after you turn the final page.

Extraordinary TONY BLAIRRiveting - PHILIPPE SANDSBrutal, brilliant and scurrilously funny - MISHA GLENNYThe real scoop isnt on the front pageAs FT editor, I was a privileged interlocutor to people in power around the world, each offering unique insights into high-level decision-making and political calculation, often in moments of crisis. These diaries offer snapshots of leadership in an age of upheaval...Lionel Barber was Editor of the Financial Times for the tech boom, the global financial crisis, the rise of China, Brexit, and mainstream medias fight for survival in the age of fake news.In this unparalleled, no-holds-barred diary of life behind the headlines, he reveals the private meetings and exchanges with political leaders on the eve of referendums, the conversations with billionaire bankers facing economic meltdown, exchanges with Silicon Valley tech gurus and pleas from foreign emissaries desperate for inside knowledge, all against the backdrop of a wildly shifting media landscape.The result is a fascinating - and at times scathing - portrait of power in our modern age; who has it, what it takes and what drives the men and women with the world at their feet. Featuring close encounters with Trump, Cameron, Blair, Putin, Merkel and Mohammed Bin Salman and many more, this is a rare portrait of the people who continue to shape our world and who quite literally, make the news.

Extraordinary ... a privileged boardroom-table view of the gilded age of tech-utopianismSunday TimesThe real story behind the mercurial Masayoshi Son, one of the worlds most consequential investors, who has three times lost and made tens of billions of dollarsJapans Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1 trillion in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Alibaba, Chinas internet colossus, before the world had heard about it; plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a wonder product; and financed hundreds of tech start-ups, fuelling the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen. This book takes you on Sons wild ride, from his birthplace in a Korean slum in post-war Japan to the modern-day temples of power. It speeds through Donald Trumps golden skyscraper in Manhattan, the royal palaces of Riyadh and the throne rooms of Chinas Marxist rulers; all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of financial engineering and crazy risk-taking. Sons story captures a 25 year-span of hyper-globalisation in which money, technologies and ideas flowed freely. From the launch of the microchip to the advent of artificial intelligence, he has ridden the technological wave which has created extraordinary wealth and economic change. His topsy-turvy business career is testimony to the power of optimism, daring to dream, ever in search of the Next Big Thing. As an ethnic Korean in Japan, Son has overcome adversity and discrimination to become Japans best-known businessman and empire-builder but he remains an elusive, intensely private figure. This book, by a former editor of the Financial Times, contains a wealth of new information and has had the co-operation of many of the key participants, including Son himself. Written with a verve appropriate to its subject, Gambling Man reveals the man behind the money, what drives him, why he matters, and what he plans for his next act.

Una ventana privilegiada a las conversaciones privadas con los mayores líderes mundialesLionel Barber, director delFinancial Times durante quince años, ha vivido en primera línea algunos de los principales desafios economicos y politicos de los ultimos tiempos.El reputado periodista, a traves de las anotaciones que tomo de sus encuentros con los poderosos que gobiernan el mundo, recoge enVencedores y vencidos, traducido por primera vez al español, conversaciones privadas con politicos a las puertas de un referendum, con banqueros billonarios que se enfrentan a una crisis economica o con gurus de la tecnologia de Sillicon Valley.Algunas de las personalidades mas destacadas con las que Barber ha tenido la oportunidad de entrevistarse son Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel o Donald Trump. En un momento en el que el periodismo lucha por sobrevivir a la era de losfake news, el que fuera director de la Biblia de los negocios durante su etapa mas brillante, muestra que su condicion simultanea deinsideryoutsider le brindo una relacion de intimidad unica con lideres del mundo de la politica, las finanzas y los negocios, el periodismo, la diplomacia y hasta la realeza,En este diario fascinante y mordaz, Barber desvela todo lo que hay detras de las bambalinas de los titulares, y ofrece un rico retrato de las elites globales desde su posicion de observador privilegiado. Un compendio de analisis propio y dialogos que constituye una via de acceso excepcional a una mejor comprension del cambio de epoca en el que aun hoy estamos inmersos.

Gambling Man is the biography of one of the world s least known but most consequential investors Japan s Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes investing or controlling assets worth 1 trillion in the past two decades through his media tech giant SoftBank He bankrolled Alibaba China s internet colossus before the world had heard about it plotted with Steve Jobs to turn the iPhone into a wonder product and financed hundreds of tech start ups fuelling the biggest boom Silicon Valley has ever seen This book takes you on Son s wild ride from his birthplace in a Korean slum in post war Japan to the modern day temples of power It speeds through Donald Trump s golden skyscraper in Manhattan the royal palaces of Riyadh and the throne rooms of China s Marxist rulers all places where Son has deployed his unique blend of financial engineering and crazy risk taking Son s story captures a 25 year span of hyper globalisation in which money technologies and ideas flowed freely From the launch of the microchip to the advent of artificial intelligence he has ridden the technological wave which has created extraordinary wealth and economic change His topsy turvy business career is testimony to the power of optimism daring to dream ever in search of the Nex

Lionel Barber, director del Financial Times durante quince años, ha vivido en primera línea algunos de los principales desafíos económicos y políticos de los últimos tiempos.El reputado periodista, a traves de las anotaciones que tomo de sus encuentros con los poderosos que gobiernan el mundo, recoge en Vencedores y vencidos, traducido por primera vez al español, conversaciones privadas con politicos a las puertas de un referendum, con banqueros billonarios que se enfrentan a una crisis economica o con gurus de la tecnologia de Sillicon Valley.Algunas de las personalidades mas destacadas con las que Barber ha tenido la oportunidad de entrevistarse son Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel o Donald Trump. En un momento en el que el periodismo lucha por sobrevivir a la era de los fake news, el que fuera director de la Biblia de los negocios durante su etapa mas brillante, muestra que su condicion simultanea de insider y outsider le brindo una relacion de intimidad unica con lideres del mundo de la politica, las finanzas y los negocios, el periodismo, la diplomacia y hasta la realeza,En este diario fascinante y mordaz, Barber desvela todo lo que hay detras de las bambalinas de los titulares, y ofrece un rico retrato de las elites globales desde su posicion de observador privilegiado. Un compendio de analisis propio y dialogos que constituye una via de acceso excepcional a una mejor comprension del cambio de epoca en el que aun hoy estamos inmersos.

Lunch with the FT has been a permanent fixture in the Financial Times for almost 30 years, featuring presidents, film stars, musical icons and business leaders from around the world.The column is now a well-established institution, which has reinvigorated the art of conversation in the convivial, intimate environment of a long and boozy lunch.This new and updated edition includes lunches with:Elon MuskDonald TrumpHilary MantelRichard BransonZadie SmithNigel FarageRussell BrandDavid GuettaYanis VaroufakisJean-Claude JunckerGwyneth PaltrowRebecca SolnitJordan PetersonChimamanda Ngozi AdichieAnd more...

From the very first mouthful, Lunch with the FT was destined to become a permanent fixture in the Financial Times.One thousand lunches later, the FTs weekly interview has become an institution. From film stars to politicians, tycoons to writers, dissidents to lifestyle gurus, the list reads like an international Whos Who of our times. Lunch with the FT is a selection of the best: 52 classic interviews conducted in the unforgiving proximity of a restaurant table. From Angela Merkel to Sean P. Diddy Combs, Martin Amis to one of the Arab worlds most notorious sons, this book brings you right to the table to decide what you think of or worlds most powerful players.