Softbank'S Son Jumps to Third Among Top Taxpayers

Softbank'S Son Jumps to Third Among Top Taxpayers

Tokyo, May 16 (Bloomberg) -- Masayoshi Son, the 43-year-old founder of Softbank Corp., more than doubled his contribution to Japan's finances this year as the country's No. 3 taxpayer. Son, who jumped from No. 16 last year, paid 1.56 billion yen ($12.6 million) in income tax, show documents released by the National Tax Administration Agency. Analysts said public share sales by several units of Softbank, the world's largest Internet investor, may have pushed Son's income higher this year. ''He might have made a lot of money from the IPOs for Softbank Investment Corp. and E*Trade Japan KK,'' said Kentaro Kimura, a technology analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston Securities Japan Ltd. The Tax Agency released a list of the country's top 100 taxpayers of last year. Topping the list was the late Masahito Otsuka, founder of Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Second was Rakuten Inc. president Hiroshi Mikitani, who was named one of 25 next-generation global leaders in the May issue of Fortune magazine. Rakuten, which operates Japan's biggest Internet mall, sold 1,500 shares at 33 million yen each in an initial public offering in April 2000.

Fewer Millionaires

The number of individual Japanese who have assets excluding real estate of at least $1 million dropped by 5.7 percent last year, due to a 26 percent fall by the benchmark Nikkei stock index, according to a report yesterday by Merrill Lynch & Co. and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young. Still, since 1998, the number of millionaires in Japan has grown almost 30 percent to more than 1 million individuals, the report said. Japan is among a few developed countries that release lists of top taxpayers each year. Local tax offices unveiled lists of those who paid more than 10 million yen in taxes last year. Den Fujita, president of McDonald's Japan Ltd., fell to 27th from second last year, while Tadashi Yanai, president of First Retailing Co. operator of the Uniqlo discount clothing chain, was No. 31 on the list. Top taxpayers at financial institutions included Ryoichi Jinnai, chairman of consumer finance lender Promise Co., at No. 11, and Bart Broadman, Japan chairman of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., at No. 97.

-- Wanna Be (mhokuno@yahoo.com), May 16, 2001