How Masayoshi Son Brought Arm Into SoftBank’s Embrace

The calm of Stuart Chambers’ sailing holiday off the Turkish coast was shattered earlier this month when Masayoshi Son flew in with an armed escort and an offer for Arm Holdings, the UK’s pre-eminent technology company. The charismatic SoftBank founder, who built the Japanese company into a global telecoms and internet conglomerate, had come to meet Arm’s chairman in Marmaris, the seaside resort from which Turkey’s president fled on Friday to face down an attempted coup. Mr Son flew in by private jet, accompanied by his security detail because of the earlier terrorist attack on Istanbul airport. As they sat beside the glistening Mediterranean on July 3, Mr Chambers was unprepared for him to deliver a formal takeover offer.