>> from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose."

>> masayoshi son is here. he is the chairman of softbank corporation. it is one of japan's largest mobile carriers and one of the largest tech companies. in 2013 it acquired sprint for most $22 billion. it has stakes in over 1000 other companies. forbes recently estimated his net worth at $18.4 billion. it makes him the richest man in japan. i am pleased to have him at the table for the first time. >> thank you very much. >> you're going to speak to the u.s. chamber of commerce this week. what are you going to tell them about the wireless revolution? >> i would say that mobile internet, the internet highway, is the most important infrastructure for the 21st century. to me, it is so clear that there

is no other infrastructure that is more important for the 21st century. however, the u.s. is number 15 in the world when someone did the survey. out of 16, number 15. >> in terms of what measurement? >> speed. the only country the u.s. beat was the philippines. >> they did not beat south korea or japan. >> many other countries, the u.s. was beaten. it is a good enough situation for the 21st century, the most important infrastructure, u.s. is lagging behind. the u.s. has been number one in infrastructure for almost everything in the 20th century. automobiles, the television, almost everything. >> you believe that is because two carriers, verizon and at&t, have more than 60% of the market?

>> more than 75% and more than 80% for corporate. >> they are stifling innovation, in your judgment? >> they are happy with where they are. they make a ton of money and free cash flow, all dividends going back to the shareholders. they're very comfortable where they are, which i don't blame them. if i were in their shoes, i would be happy. because they are in such a happy position without facing a real competition from some strong challenger, they can relax. >> so you bought sprint and now you want to buy t-mobile. >> if we could, but we have not agreed -- >> you have not made an agreement with t-mobile. what are your chances?

>> i don't know. >> is it money or something else? >> i am not here to talk about any details in that situation. >> why not? >> look, in general we have to -- >> we have to make a deal. >> we would like to make a deal happen but there are steps and details that we have to work out. >> tom wheeler is chairman of the fcc. he has suggested that he was make sure there is competition in the market. he is not in favor, generally, in mergers between, say, sprint and t-mobile. you own sprint, and therefore you would have a huge position in the american market. >> yes. look -- there is a -- and they take more than 80% of the free market cash flow.

here comes the two little ones who were not able to fight without enough scale. that is no good. i think it needs to be change. >> assuming you can make a deal and had sprint and t-mobile, what would you be able to do as a carrier in the united states? >> we need a certain scale. once we have enough scale to have a three-heavyweight fight -- >> you like that, don't you? >> yes. i would like to have a real fight, not a pseudo-fight. if we cannot have a real fight, we grow a more massive price war. >> you are willing to postpone profits in order to gain market share?

>> exactly. i want to be number one. if we were number three and if we had enough chance, i want to be number one. i would go to price competition very aggressively and network competition to create a world's best network. the u.s. is number 15 out of 16. i am ashamed of that. i am not here to criticize the u.s.'s situation. i'm here to say, i now own part of the responsibility and i would like to provide u.s. citizens with the world's number one network. >> let me go back to japan. what was it like growing up in japan, the son of korean and chinese parents? >> it is not easy. japan is a homogenous country. one culture with one race.

if you are considered an outsider, it is not easy. nowadays, i stick up enough. people know that i am myself. >> and at 16, you came to san francisco and made your way to berkeley. you graduated. what did you want to do when you got out? >> i wanted to start my own company. when i was a student at berkeley at 19 years old, i wanted to start a small company and may the first electronic dictionary. >> translator and dictionary. and then sold it? >> to sharp for $1.7 million. for a 19-year-old kid, it is not bad. i did another computer game that maybe $1.5 million.

i got a little over $3 million when i was 19. i never used venture capital. >> you never went out and raise money, but you had money yourself? that is better because you don't have to -- if you are partners you have, the better off you are. >> if you succeed. >> if you can get by without the capital. when did you go back to japan? >> right after i graduated i went back. i promised my mother that as soon as i finished haulage i would be back. i kept my word. >> and then you begin your march to war you are today. you seem to have done a by two things. not only your own company but investing in other companies. you have had a keen eye for what may be a successful investment. just the most recent ones -- alibaba.

it is going to be a huge payday for you. it will be one of the largest ipo's around. >> we are lucky. you need luck once in a while. >> your heroes are the formers of sony. you like them because -- >> they have passion, vision, they are founders of a huge brand. they are pioneers. they pioneered the electronic industry. they pioneered the automobile industry in japan, fighting with the incumbents, not helped by the government but they made themselves. >> you admire bill gates and steve jobs a lot. steve jobs, you thought, was -- what? >> leonardo da vinci. with art and technology

combined. >> the design and engineering as well. >> 500 years later, people would compare steve jobs with da vinci. that is my view. >> looking for somebody to -- a carrier, in japan, for the iphone, you said, me! >> that was two years before he introduced the iphone. if i entered into the mobile business, the mobile carrier business, i need a weapon. so i called him up and went to see him. i brought my drawing of an ipod in a mobile capability. i gave him my drawing and steve

says, masa, don't give me your drawing. [laughter] i have my own. don't -- >> i don't need your drawing, masa. >> i don't need to give you my dirty paper, but i want you to have your own product. give it to me for japan. he says, you're crazy. we are not close to anybody but you came to see me as the first guy. i give it to you. >> is that right? so you walked away as the carrier in japan that would be affiliated with the iphone. >> before i acquired vodafone japan. i said to him, if you can give me exclusively for japanese market, that will be fantastic. write it down and sign it for me.

[laughter] he said, masa, i'm not going to sign up for you because you don't even own a mobile carrier yet. steve, you give me your word. i will bring you a carrier for japan. >> and you did. >> i did. >> there was some concern as to whether the japanese consumer would like the iphone. why do you think it would? >> it's the industry's technology direction. before iphone, most of the handsets were just a crappy handmade software without operating systems so that not so many standalone applications and software could come as a platform. like a pc. this is an internet device that you can carry around. it is not a mobile phone.

it is an internet machine. it is my view. he is the first guy who could create a device with an operating system so that it would be a platform for every application, for surfing the internet. >> bill gates -- you know and admire bill gates. >> very much. both are my heroes. >> what you think bill gates missed so much? >> he had such a fantastic success. with the operating system for pc. when you were so successful in one thing, you have something to protect. it is difficult to cannibalize and he was retiring from the company. he no longer had the passion to go on to the next thing. >> he had other things that he wanted to do in terms of

philanthropy. someone once said to me about steve that unlike others, he saw everything with a beginner's eye. besought with a freshness. he was not encumbered by the way it had been. >> he does not care about anybody else's idea. he had to create it himself with a clear eye for the future. that is what i admire the most. he has tremendous focus. >> are you more the financial guy who understands how to make a deal, but also understands how to find the companies that you want to make a deal about rather than being a creative guy? >> if steve is art and technology -- >> you are? >> i am finance and technology. >> no art?

>> i love art, but i am not an artist. to me, what is more important is the information revolution. that is more important -- to create a new lifestyle. if i can help bring in information revolution to mankind, i don't have to do everything. i can bring everybody else's talent. i can bring the infrastructure -- >> you bring the roadway that they come on. >> yes. i don't have to create the ferrari or honda. i can create a highway for all of the beautiful automobiles. i can create the toll gates. i can create the entire ecosystem for the automobile revolution.

that is what i'm trying to do. i am bringing information revolution. for these internet devices, the highway itself as an infrastructure is not good enough. that was a big problem for japan, so i challenged ntt because they had 99% market share on the information highway. >> did they give you fiber lines or something? >> i asked the government to de-regulate, unbundle all of the copper and fiber services. if you want to create the information revolution and create the information highway, you need a lot of capital. that requires a lot of finance. money is not the most important thing to me but money is required to invest tens of

billions of dollars. >> my impression is that you want to be the biggest in the world, period. fair enough. google is laying a lot of fiber in the united states. they want to provide the highways, too. they have designated markets where they have -- there is also comcast now buying time warner. john malone wanted to be part of that. who knows? maybe comcast will by john malone's company. is it going to be the telcos or the cable companies? >> that is a very good question. this is a capital-intensive industry. emerging from the wire-line broadband information highway and the wireless information highway. this kind of device can get

connected with wired or wireless broadband. either way, and ipad is an ipad. what people care is how the ipad or iphone can function seamlessly -- >> and fast. >> in the past, only fixed-line broadband could provide high-speed internet for this device. now wireless is becoming very powerful. there will be alternatives. >> and that is the revolution right there, what wireless is able to do without the fiber. that raises the question of the velocity of wireless and how good it is. you have complained about the carriers here in terms of -- they are not innovative, but you say they have a faulty system.

>> very, very slow network and you get disconnected all the time. it is poor quality. it is just poor quality. i think there is a way to fix it. >> how would you fix it? >> first, i need the scale of company. scale of the subscriber. >> you have to have enough size to compete with the big boys. >> i need to become a heavyweight. it is a heavyweight fight. [laughter] i cannot be a tiny mosquito. >> that will not work. they will squish you. >> right. they would ignore us so they could stay profitable and be fat. i want to make them fight back so that they also become muscle instead of fat. it is good -- >> it is called competition. >> it is good for the united states. i want to show them our technology that we have, which is much faster.

after 200 megabits per second, this is much faster than fixed-line broadband. we have the technology for that. >> your wireless is faster than fixed-line broadband? >> yes. we are ready have that. >> tokyo is fast. where is it the fastest in the world? >> australia to some extent. with a crowded user, japan and seoul are the top two. >> you have this giant battle between operating systems, android and apple. which is better? >> apple is like a ferrari.

for high-end users, it is beautiful. android is more general. it is for countries who cannot afford high-end products. >> so it depends on what they can do for particular kinds of customers. samsung is serious about this. what you think of samsung? >> samsung is a great company, great company. they are going to succeed. they're going to continue to grow. >> how did they do it? >> they have so many technologies, from semiconductors to the lcd displays and all these things.

they have product technology and they have a passion to make success. >> take me back to the.com bust. what happened to you? >> for three days, i was reaching up to bill gates. >> and larry ellison was richer than bill gates for a couple of days. but you were there for three days. did you tell everyone when you were the richest man in the world? >> i did. [laughter] before i said it, i was sitting down. >> you've got a chance to tell them, and it was over. >> for three days we were $200 billion in market cap. >> and then came the crash. what were you after the crash? >> $2 billion.

>> 99% down in one year. >> we went from 70 billion to $69 billion. >> did you have a doubt you could come back? >> i had a confidence. i had a confidence that our number of users kept growing, because our profit kept growing. it is overreaction either up or down. that was my belief. the internet will continue to grow. as long as internet users continue to grow, the traffic

continued to grow, it will come back. that was my -- >> someone said to me the other day, google is going to be the biggest company in the world. mark my word. >> there is a good possibility for that. when ibm was growing, people said ibm. when microsoft was growing, microsoft forever. now google has that position. who knows? 30 years later were 300 years later what is going to happen? >> they call that disruptive technologies. >> there definitely disruptive. smart people, great engineers, and great vision. there one of the most capable companies. i have a high amount of respect for them. as i said, technology evolves.

no one technology continues to grow over 300 years. >> apple still has tim cook, johnny ives, and others. >> they are a great company. >> they were running it while steve was sick. >> great company. those companies, amazon, facebook -- >> jeff bezos is a bit like you. he likes to get market share. he is willing to cut prices to get market share. >> he is very smart. long-term view. >> what did you think of the facebook acquisition of whatsapp? >> very smart. >> so you would've paid $16 billion if you had facebook users? >> no doubt for one moment.

>> what is your philosophy for this? if you can figure out what it is worth, then get it. if you have to pay the top price, but you see the potential, do it. >> yes. i am looking at the future, not the past or the present. in 10 years, 20 years, what can we do if we get more power? >> here is what they say about you. they say not only that you want to be the wireless infrastructure and have the world's biggest carrier, but you also want to be in content. >> content, application, the service. those are the fruits and flowers on the basis of the platform. we want to provide the platform, which is the infrastructure, and then we want to help grow those bunch of different flowers and

fruits. that is our view. it is like john malone's cable company with liberty media. >> video is where the world is in terms of power. it is not just the internet. you are interested in solar, wind. you are looking at those as future technologies that will change the world. >> yes. that was not my initial interest at all. it came only because of the earthquake in japan three years ago. without electricity, the internet does not work. communications do not work. all of the japanese people are suffering from the shortage of electricity. >> what did you decide about nuclear as a result of that?

>> i don't believe nuclear is a long-term solution. i am against it. >> you are? >> that is why i am trying to provide alternative solutions. >> it is not just a business decision. you think this is best for japan? >> for the people of japan and the world. >> what you think of your prime minister? >> well, he is a smart guy. i don't agree with everything -- >> what don't you agree? >> don't give me that position. [laughter] i'm going to have a problem back in japan if i say those comments. [laughter] >> you think he is too nationalistic? >> well, he can be much more, you know, how do you say, balanced. >> you would like to see a more balanced? >> i would hope that he would have at least -- people would see him more balanced.

at least he is not perceived as a balanced situation. that is not good for him or the country. >> we live in a global world. do differences in culture matter? >> for me, internet is already connected worldwide. the politics, the government divides the barriers between the countries. this is our world. there is no boundary. we can travel around the world in less than one second. people can communicate with each other, meet and face each other over the internet instantaneously. the world would have much more peace and we would forget about

these frictions and so on. >> what else are you interested in? >> for me, the revolution is the only thing to which i dedicate my life. this is the only thing that i am so excited about. mankind at the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, and the information revolution. that is not a small subject. this is a subject that will last the next 300 years. that is why i say we have a 300 year vision, we want to focus this information revolution and the technology evolves. as i said, i don't care what technology. i don't care about who makes this technology -- if this technology is invented by us or our employees. i don't care.

i want to bring everyone be innovation, bring them into our ecosystem together. many american companies are interested in one brand, one business to conquer all over the world. i am not that kind of guy. i believe in partnership. in my view, investing into the -- will help them grow their passion in their way. this passion, that passion. if i can assist with all of these exciting entrepreneurs who come up with great technology or services, i will be more than happy. i don't need to be a hero. i would rather them be a hero in the ecosystem that we create. that is my 300 year vision.

i don't depend on one product, one business model, or one brand. i would rather be a silicon valley. they are my partner, of course. i am interested in creating. i respect silicon valley, all the passion and things happening. i want to create a virtual silicon valley in the softbank group family that our many brands, and bring synergy. >> you will get it in social media, as well? >> one way or the other. >> thank you for coming. it is good to see you. ♪

>> catherine deneuve is here, an icon of french cinema and culture. her work on films has spanned over five decades. her latest film is called "on my way." she plays a former beauty green was betrayed by her boyfriend

and besides to take a road trip. >> betty always lived by the rules. until her world fell apart. now, after a lifetime of regret, she is hitting the road. she is taking a chance. she has got one unexpected passenger.

♪ this spring, catherine deneuve stars and a film about freedom. family. and how it is never too late to discover yourself. catherine deneuve in a new film by emmanuelle bercot. "on my way." >> i am pleased to have

catherine deneuve back at the table. is this something you would like to do? you get in a mercedes and drive out of paris? >> in any car, maybe. at one time, i think everyone is thinking about taking the car and going for a few hours. in the film, she does not go to leave everything. she just kind of takes the car. she thinks for a few hours. at one time, there is always a good reason to say it is enough. i go. you don't often have the opportunity to do it because of responsibility. >> you could do it if you wanted to. you can take off a few weeks. >> i could, but i don't imagine taking off without saying anyone to anyone. when you have friends and family, it is the

responsibility. you cannot disappear and frighten everyone. >> tell me how you see betty. >> i see her as young and hard, maybe too young at heart. she has been trying to survive or to be maintaining the place where she is working with her mother still there. she lives with her mother. she has a daughter of an age that she does not get along well with. she is struggling. all of a sudden, she says that is enough and decides to go. >> she had an affair with a married man who decide to abandon her. we learn that she had an affair

after she was widowed for a long time. there are some kind of men that say they will leave their wives and some that don't. she is quite brave. >> how so? >> because she decides to go and does what people would like to do and don't do, to go. >> emmanuelle bercot says that she wrote this character with you in mind. >> i had met her before. she is a very good actress also. i had met her and saw the film she had been doing before. i like them very much so we met and we said that we would like to do a scene together. as she writes films, she took her time before she found the

right story and she gave me the first version of the script to read. >> i love the name of the grandson, charly. some sense of how he changes you is interesting. his impact on you, on betty. >> yes. children are frank and he has a difficult life with a mother who was not there. i suppose the boy is very open. she doesn't know him very well. she doesn't see her grandson very often. she has to discover that this is a boy, a little man, and to do what she promised, to bring him to her grandfather for the holidays.

all of a sudden they do not know each other and they have a private intimacy all of a sudden. it is complicated. it forces her to see and hear things she had not in a long time. >> i want to see some of this. let's see the third clip. >> i like that scene.

i like the little boy. he is the son of the director. emmanuelle's son. >> does he want to be an actor? >> yes. he is an actor. he is at a special school where he does his studies. he wants to be in musicals more than anything. he loves to sing. >> how would you describe the relationship between betty and her daughter? >> very conflicted. the daughter has a strong character and she wanted to live her life and to live her life on her own. she has a lot of problems. >> if someone would ask you what

is the theme of the film, what would you say? >> it is the discovery of your life and the life of people. for a trip in a car, she discovered that people that you are probably never meet. it is a sort of discovery of parts of france and people. >> that is what makes it interesting. you see a portion of france as well. >> you grab little scenes like that and discover characters that you're going to see for a little while and then she goes off and go somewhere else. she prepared it very well because it is difficult to work like that. a lot of people in the film are not professional actors. even if people were not acting, and she wanted very little improvisation. >> she had nonactors doing a script that she had written? >> yes. the man i met at the club was not a professional. >> how did he do? >> very well. he is doing another film now. >> there is a scene where he is sleeping with her and he says, i

can see that you're beautiful when you were young. how does she take that? a compliment or -- >> not so much a compliment. it is not that he wants to tell her that she was -- he wanted to meet her when she was 25 years younger, i suppose. >> you seem to me to be totally comfortable with how old you are and the life you have. >> with the life i have, yes, i can assume that. and comfortable with my age, most of the time, yes. not all the time. it is not that easy when you are in actress. it is not a major problem for me. >> having known you for a number of years, my impression is that you know who you are, and you suffer no fools. >> i think it is true. [laughter]

i'm quite realistic. it is not that i love or like myself. i am comfortable because i don't think i cheat with myself. >> this is what richard brodie said about you. when she was very young, she seemed old beyond her years. i think this is true. now she seems more youthful and spontaneous than most people her age. that is true. >> i think i was very shy when i was young. i suppose i was very much behind the scene. >> a bit aloof because you are shy? >> exactly. it was not that i was not secure, but today i feel quite aware of what is going on. >> i know you are. you can work as much as you want to. you are doing lots of films. >> yes, i am.

i am quite lucky. for the recent years i have been very lucky with the people i have been working with or people wanting to work with me. it is difficult for an actress to be, when you're not 30. not as much as in america, but to have a major, important part in a film. sometimes i do smaller parts because i think if they are, it is better than to have one big part in the film that is just average. the part is interesting even if it is short. >> emmanuelle, as a director as an actress, have you ever wanted to direct? not at all? you didn't love filmmaking so much that you said --

>> i know what it is to be a great director. i would think i would be just a director. i don't think it is the same approach. i don't think i could stand to have two take this all the time. i do not carry myself a story that they want to put on screen. i think that some should ask twice before they do that. [laughter] i like to be the interpreter for a director, for a film. >> you see yourself in partnership with the director and the screenwriter and you take that -- >> often in france it is the same. the directors write the biggest parts of the script themselves. >> how is french cinema doing? >> like lots of things in europe at the moment, it is struggling a little because of the economic situation. not only in france. i think it is worse in spain and

italy. we have the cultural exception in france that gives help to those. also for french cinema. maybe less is being done. i think we do too many films in france. i think too many films are shot every year. >> meaning they should be less films and better films? >> sometimes you get surprises with little films, but i mean that so many films at the release are difficult. if a film does not do will completely in the first week, up to go into a cinema with less people. >> television has gotten so very good. the kinds of roles you can have, the kinds of characters you can develop, because you have many

hours to do it. >> i heard american actress saying they had more interesting scripts from television than -- >> absolutely. >> especially in short series. >> and especially for adult films. >> you can afford to do things on television that you could not do any film because of the cost of film and you have to really think all the time that you must get a result if you are doing a film of a certain budget. cinema is more expensive than television. >> what you think of your president? >> i think he is our president and actually, i think he is not respected well enough in france. i am very surprised that we have a lot of freedom of press in -- actually, here too. i'm surprised at the tone in

which french journalist talk about him. >> it has changed. it used to be the private life was not a topic. this was a big topic in france. >> it was a big topic because it was a surprise for everyone and no one knew he was in that difficult private life. to me, that is -- it has been a different place for a while. no one expected that from a man like him. i think that the press is not very polite. i think it should be a little more -- he is struggling well and doing something that no one has done for so many years. it is not the situation of france. it is the situation we have been living with 15 years. >> you mean the economic circumstances of france? >> that is the major problem in the country. he is doing what should have been done a long time ago. he cannot be loved by people -- >> does that mean you're more conservative than i might have

imagined? you believe that the french leadership should change the relationship between the state and -- >> i don't think i am conservative. i think there should be more respect. i think the press does not respect the ethic of what they are supposed to do. i am very surprised by sort of the outrage of the journalists, especially on the cover of serious magazines against him. against him personally. >> meaning that it bleeds into his policy. in other words, the personal qualities somehow gets connected to policy. >> there is less respect there that we have ever had for a president in words, what you read every day. i'm very surprised at that. i think it is difficult what he

has to do. very, very difficult. he cannot be loved at the moment. >> blue is the warmest color of the film. did you see it? >> yes. >> did you like it? >> yes. >> i did, too. >> i was disappointed to see that in france it did not get anything. it is a shame. it did not win the oscar because there is a thing for a few days or weeks where -- >> the young actress was here. she came here. >> she is wonderful. >> she was real and human -- >> and very touching. she is very good in the film. >> >> absolutely. she is a wonderful actress. >> who had the most influence on you? >> maybe -- . because of the length of time -- >> how many films? >> maybe six.

i have been doing it for 30 years now. we were very close. we have lunch together. we are very close. >> who else? emmanuelle? because you are young? >> no, because we did not talk that much. maybe polansky. because they love to explain. people are concerned -- they teach you any way what it is to be on screen. >> 14 years ago you told me that you wanted to do more comedy. have you had a chance? >> yes. this film is a sort of comedy. i did a film three years ago which really is a comedy. it is very difficult to find in france a good screen for

comedies. >> thank you. a pleasure to see you. ♪

>> live from pier 3 in san francisco, welcome to "bloomberg west," where we focus on innovation, technology, and the future of business. i'm emily chang. i'm here with cory johnson, our editor at large. a new game comes out on xbox one. could it be enough of a big