SoftBank's Masa Son Added to Code Conference Roster

And the hit speakers keep on coming — today, with the addition of SoftBank head and Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son to the stage of our first Code Conference.

Set for May 27-29 in Southern California, the event includes a roster of big stars of tech, media and more, including new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Google’s Sergey Brin, General Motors’ Mary Barra and Hollywood mogul Ryan Seacrest.

Son, of course, needs no introduction, although he rarely makes public appearances in the United States. A major early player in the Internet and telecom, he’s been at our previous D: All Things Digital conference before, but nearly a decade ago.

Now there is even more reason to talk to him, as owner of more than 1,300 technology companies worldwide, including Yahoo Japan. He is also the single largest shareholder in Alibaba Group, the Chinese online phenom set to go public later this year.

Most importantly, of late, the outspoken entrepreneur is trying to make a big play in the U.S., paying $22 billion to buy 80 percent of Sprint last year. Now he’s going for T-Mobile, trumpeting a home broadband service, while facing strong regulatory opposition over consolidation in the wireless business.

We’re excited to have him onstage — and we are not done yet with big names to add. So, here’s a glimpse of his unvarnished style in a video interview with Walt Mossberg earlier this week:

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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