Grounded internet high flyer takes on NTT.

• Position: Profile

Masayoshi Son, founder of Sofbank Corp, Japan's No2 provider of high-speed web access, is taking on the nation's biggest companies, winning the approval of some investors in the process.

Son's Tokyo-based Softbank is battling with Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp, the world's largest phone company, with its web access service called Yahoo! BB. In July, Softbank took on Sony with a foray into on-line computer gaming.

Some investors like what they see, saying Son's investments in high-speed internet services are bound to pay off. Softbank's shares have more than doubled since 1 January, rising 10 per cent alone in the past month.

On-line games mark the latest shift for Son. As an early investor in companies such a Yahoo! Inc and E*Trade Group, Son rode the soaring valuations of internet stocks to their height, becoming the world's...