Softbank founder Masayoshi Son lost $130 million on bitcoin bet

Masayoshi Son previously bitcoin loss shows that even some of the world's most sophisticated and wealthiest investors got caught up in the frenzy.

Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder of SoftBank Group Corp., made a huge personal bet on bitcoin just as prices for the digital currency peaked, losing more than $130 million when he sold out, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Son, who launched the world’s biggest venture-capital fund on the strength of his long-term investing acumen, made the investment in late 2017 at the recommendation of a well-known bitcoin booster, whose investment firm SoftBank bought that year, the people said.

The exact size of the bet couldn’t be determined, but it came at the peak of the bitcoin frenzy after the