TOKYO/PALO ALTO, U.S. -- The day he secured the agreement to acquire U.K. chip designer Arm four years ago, SoftBank Group chief Masayoshi Son said it was "the happiest day of my entrepreneurial life."
He had kept an eye on Arm since his friend Steve Jobs had spoken glowingly about it while referring to the new iPhone that Apple was creating. So when the $31 billion deal was agreed to in July 2016 -- the biggest corporate acquisition in Japanese history -- Son was elated.
