Bitcoin Crash Cost SoftBank Founder Masayoshi Son $130 million

It seems Masayoshi Son was one of the many who were affected by the 2018 crypto price slump as it was reported on April 23, 2019, that he lost $130 million after selling off his bitcoin after the crash.

Count Your Losses

While the latest crypto market slump affected the entire industry, the most commonly discussed result was that which was felt by companies.

Beyond enterprises, some individuals like Steve Wozniak were able to sell their cryptocurrency at the all-time highs. Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky.

Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank Group, reportedly lost over $130 million following the Bitcoin bear run. According to The Wall Street Journal report, Son purchased at the peak of the bitcoin bubble and sold just after it burst in 2018.

Son had been advised by Peter Briger, the founder of Fortress Investment Group, which had a significant amount of bitcoin in reserves since 2013 and was bought out by Masayoshi’s Softbank in 2017.

The SoftBank founder purchased bitcoin in 2017, and by the end of that year, the value of the premier cryptocurrency had increased by 2,000 percent. Unfortunately, as of the time he sold, the price had fallen to below $10,000 from its peak of almost $20,000 and as such, Masayoshi suffered a loss of $130 million.

Bad Deals?

Masayoshi is known in the business world for making rapid and decisive decisions when it comes to investments, and this has served him well in the past. A primary example of this comes with his backing of Alibaba, which has gone on to be one of the most successful companies in the world.  

Unfortunately, no businessperson is without his bad days and not every business deal ends up being a moonshot as is evidenced from the bitcoin purchase.

Ultimately, it came down to bad timing. Although Masayoshi purchased when bitcoin was very valuable, he sold after the price had crashed and ended up losing money. Such situations occur in every type of investment scenario, but because of the volatility of the crypto market, such losses are often inevitable.

Hopefully, as the market begins to recover, more people will invest, and those who have been holding long-term might be able to recoup their initial investments.