About
A gripping business thriller that reveals the dark side of tech investing.
Look behind every irresistible Silicon Valley drama and you'll find a hidden story of finance. The investment giant SoftBank financed Uber prior to its IPO, engineered the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, was WeWork's biggest backer, and in 2017, it launched the largest investment fund in history. Yet very little is known about the secretive company that controls global tech—until now.
“The Money Trap” offers a rare, unvarnished look into the shadowy world of high-stakes investing, where greed is king and only the most cutthroat survive. Author Alok Sama was President & CFO of SoftBank for five years, negotiating deals to buy some of the most well-known companies on earth with a $100 billion venture capital pool at his disposal. He worked side-by-side with the company's founder, Masayoshi Son, an eccentric billionaire who frequently compares himself to Yoda, claims to rely on “the Force” to guide his investment decisions, and wants to be remembered as “the crazy guy who bet on the future.”
Sama takes listeners into the room—whether it's the terrace of a medieval castle, Son's private dining room with its exquisite Japanese garden, or waterside in a fishing village in the Turkish Riviera—as he plays hardball with A-list CEOs and heads of state, fights off rivals to retain his position as head dealmaker in a bizarre game of thrones, and contends with a long and nefarious intimidation campaign that led to his departure from the company. Ultimately, this thrilling saga is a morality tale—more money in tech isn't always better, it only covers up problems until it is too late to fix them.
Look behind every irresistible Silicon Valley drama and you'll find a hidden story of finance. The investment giant SoftBank financed Uber prior to its IPO, engineered the merger of Sprint and T-Mobile, was WeWork's biggest backer, and in 2017, it launched the largest investment fund in history. Yet very little is known about the secretive company that controls global tech—until now.
“The Money Trap” offers a rare, unvarnished look into the shadowy world of high-stakes investing, where greed is king and only the most cutthroat survive. Author Alok Sama was President & CFO of SoftBank for five years, negotiating deals to buy some of the most well-known companies on earth with a $100 billion venture capital pool at his disposal. He worked side-by-side with the company's founder, Masayoshi Son, an eccentric billionaire who frequently compares himself to Yoda, claims to rely on “the Force” to guide his investment decisions, and wants to be remembered as “the crazy guy who bet on the future.”
Sama takes listeners into the room—whether it's the terrace of a medieval castle, Son's private dining room with its exquisite Japanese garden, or waterside in a fishing village in the Turkish Riviera—as he plays hardball with A-list CEOs and heads of state, fights off rivals to retain his position as head dealmaker in a bizarre game of thrones, and contends with a long and nefarious intimidation campaign that led to his departure from the company. Ultimately, this thrilling saga is a morality tale—more money in tech isn't always better, it only covers up problems until it is too late to fix them.