Masayoshi Son is back and it’s beautiful

The past year was a quiet one for SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. In that time the world felt . . . dimmer. The opening bell sounded tinny. The green and red lines on our screens all looked grey. We missed him terribly.

But now the Nasdaq’s up 31 per cent, fuelled by an extinction burst exciting new round of tech hype and venture-capitalist cheerleading. SoftBank-owned chipmaker Arm Ltd. has also confidentially filed for an IPO that could come as soon as this autumn, as mainFT has reported.

You know what this means: SoftBank is BACK, and so is the Son presentation!

At the firm’s annual shareholder meeting Wednesday, Son starts with the Big Questions, including “What is Mankind?” (See the honest-to-God-real slide that appears with our headline.)

Just look at these slides. Take them in. Be awed by their illustrative power, which also means they aren’t guaranteed to be accurate, according to SoftBank:

We’re not sure who Al is — some type of mutant or superhero type of guy? — but he seems very good at solving problems:

He’s also good at working:

Cool! Here’s hoping he stays away from blogging!

Anyway, SoftBank also includes charts about Arm Ltd, which appears to be doing decently well ahead of its US listing planned for this year:

Now, cumulative chip-shipment data may not be especially helpful for potential investors in Arm Ltd, but do we really want Son to resist the siren song of a parabolic line?

And yes, the chipmaker’s Ebitda may be adjusted, unaudited, and not exactly consistent in which costs it excludes from its internet-of-things services business, with its metrics “based on, but not necessarily in conformity with IFRS.” But again, look at that beautiful angle!

And to be fair, Arm is working towards its own IPO under the US’s rather strict disclosure regime, so playing some defence with its financial data may be warranted.

Further reading
— Some suggested slides for SoftBank (FTAV)