“I walk into this immaculate and impressive home and manage to almost break a chandelier.” It was just tall enough, it turned out, to whack one of the chandeliers. To help make his case, Barnard brought along a seven-foot tower of mustard greens and bok choy grown by his startup. Matt Barnard remembers time moving slowly in that side room as he awaited his chance to convince a man he described as “larger than life” to bet on his indoor farming startup, Plenty. Eventually they met Son in an intimate sitting room where a two-seater couch faces a couple of chairs and a small coffee table. Others found themselves in a small side room illuminated by chandeliers waiting for the meeting to begin. Some were ushered into a large conference room with an enormous table, spotless marble floors and ornate woodwork.
Startup founders fortunate enough to earn an audience with Son, a 60-year old billionaire with a global network and vast funds, recall being led down a hallway lined with artwork to make the pitch of a lifetime. Reaching him requires driving into a leafy enclave filled with mansions overlooking Palo Alto before passing through a gated entrance into a sprawling compound where waiting attendants escort you inside. Not far from the storied venture capital firms on Sand Hill Road, there’s a palatial estate where Masayoshi Son, Silicon Valley’s newest kingmaker, shapes the future. SoftBank’s unicorn hunter How billionaire Masa Son is shaking up Silicon Valley By Seth Fiegerman
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