HONG KONG/TOKYO -- Two years after the onset of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, a group of foreign investors set their sights on Korea First Bank, a teetering institution that had been nationalized. Among the risk-hungry investors was the Asian arm of Texas Pacific Group, the private equity firm. Another was SoftBank Group founder Masayoshi Son.

The Big Story
Visionary or daredevil? Masayoshi Son's big bets reshape tech landscape
Backed by a $96 billion war chest, SoftBank founder outspends the competition