Thread by @thefernandocz

Masayoshi Son just became the most powerful man in tech.

He dropped a $3.5B investment into Nvidia and TSMC...

His plan?

Steal the ONE thing OpenAI, Google, and Meta desperately need.

Here's how he's holding Silicon Valley hostage:

Between late 2024 and March 2025, Son bought $3B of Nvidia shares.

He acquired $330 million in TSMC.
And added $170 million in Oracle.

This wasn't random accumulation.

It was a coordinated assault on AI's backbone...

While everyone obsesses over ChatGPT clones and AI apps, Son sees what they're missing.

The real bottleneck isn't software.

It's the physical hardware.

And he's quietly cornering the market on all of it:

Think about the 1849 gold rush. Who got richest?

Not the miners. The people selling picks and shovels.

Son's applying this same principle to AI's boom.

But his version is far more sophisticated...

Son sees what others miss:

Every AI company needs 3 things to survive.

• Chip designs
• Processors (GPUs)
• Manufacturing capacity

He's buying stakes in all 3 layers simultaneously...

The Nvidia stake gets headlines. But that's just one piece.

Son owns 90% of Arm Holdings.

The company that licenses chip architecture to Apple, Amazon, Samsung.

300 billion chips worldwide use Arm technology.

This creates unprecedented leverage:

TSMC manufactures 90% of the world's advanced chips.

Son's $330 million investment isn't about returns. It's about access.

Major shareholders can "skip the line" during chip shortages.

That's power money can't usually buy...

Son learned from a painful mistake.

Years ago, SoftBank sold a 4.9% Nvidia stake in 2019. Before the stock exploded.

That missed opportunity could be worth $200+ billion today.

This time, he's not just buying back in. He's building an empire:

SoftBank liquidated $2 billion in Vision Fund assets in early 2025.

They also sold T-Mobile stakes for $4.8 billion more.

Not to chase trendy startups, but to control what everyone else depends on.

The timing reveals everything...

By 2025, AI compute demand is hitting critical mass.

OpenAI alone needs 500,000 GPUs. Google needs 300,000 more.

Cloud providers can't scale fast enough, and Son's positioning makes SoftBank the gatekeeper.

But Son's plan comes with consequences...

This accelerates AI development like never before.

We're already seeing models outcompete seasoned pros in industries, and jobs are being replaced.

Anyone can build a business, write code, and develop a product.

And this creates an unusual opportunity:

When everyone has access to the same tools, one thing becomes infinitely more valuable.

Authentic human value.

The last standing differentiator.

Look at the most successful businesses:

Joe Rogan could easily be replaced by AI video...

But his fans crave the real, human insights and connection.

Elon is building AI, but investing in his personal brand to separate himself from the swarm of generic AI content.

And as a result...

Everything they do is 10x easier:

• They stand out among competitors
• Build authority that compounds over time
• Have a loyal customer base that's ready to buy

The smartest founders are building personal brands BEFORE the AI boom.

The best part? You can start today...

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Thanks for reading! A bit about me:

2 years ago, I cofounded @ThoughtleadrX — a premium personal branding agency for world-class founders, executives, and investors to dominate socials.

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