SoftBank

Founded by Masayoshi Son in 1981 as a software and media publisher, SoftBank was worth an estimated $180 billion by the late 1990s before it lost 99 percent of its value during the dot-com bust. But Son, known widely as “Masa,” who reportedly lost $70 billion himself, managed to salvage the company by betting big on Japan’s broadband market. He is now the richest man in Japan.

SoftBank is thought to be transforming the world of venture capital through its $97.7 billion Vision Fund. Since launching in May, the fund — the world’s largest corporate venture capital fund — has invested north of $19 billion in 16 companies ranging from robotics to ride-sharing to real estate. After pouring $4.4 billion into WeWork, a shared-office space company, in August — and now pledging another big sum to Compass — SoftBank may be seeing real estate as the next big thing.