Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes are two prominent business leaders whose careers developed in very different industries. Son built SoftBank into a global technology and investment group, while Hayes spent decades in aerospace, defense, finance, and industrial management. Their professional paths rarely overlap directly, but both have influenced major multinational companies through long-term strategic decisions.
Son remains Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group in 2026, where artificial intelligence, advanced computing, Arm, and technology investments play major roles in the company’s strategy. Hayes, meanwhile, is no longer an RTX executive. He currently serves as Lead Independent Director of Phillips 66 and remains a director of Becton, Dickinson and Company.
Quick Bio of Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes
| Detail | Masayoshi Son | Greg Hayes |
|---|---|---|
| Full Name | Masayoshi Son | Gregory J. Hayes |
| Date of Birth | August 11, 1957 | 1960 |
| Nationality | Japanese | American |
| Education | University of California, Berkeley | Purdue University |
| Degree | Economics | Economics |
| Known For | Founder and leader of SoftBank | Former CEO and Executive Chairman of RTX |
| Main Industries | Technology, telecommunications, investment, AI | Aerospace, defense, manufacturing, corporate management |
| Major Company | SoftBank Group | RTX / United Technologies |
| Current 2026 Role | Chairman & CEO, SoftBank Group | Lead Independent Director, Phillips 66 |
| Other Board Role | Chairman and Director, Arm Holdings | Director, Becton, Dickinson and Company |
| SoftBank Founded | 1981 | — |
| Major Corporate Achievement | Building SoftBank into a global technology investment group | Helping transform UTC and create RTX |
| Professional Background | Entrepreneur, investor and executive | Finance-trained corporate executive |
| AI Connection | Major focus of SoftBank’s current strategy | Technology leadership through aerospace and industrial businesses |
SoftBank identifies Son as its Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman and CEO as of June 24, 2026. The company also lists him as Chairman and Director of Arm Holdings.
Phillips 66 currently identifies Hayes as its Lead Independent Director. He also serves on the board of BD, while his long executive career included leadership positions at United Technologies and RTX.
Who Is Masayoshi Son?
Masayoshi Son is a Japanese entrepreneur and technology investor best known for founding Nihon SoftBank in 1981. The company eventually became SoftBank Group, one of the world’s best-known technology investment organizations. Son has remained at the center of the company for more than four decades, guiding its expansion through several major technology cycles.
Son studied economics at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1980. His interest in computers and technology developed during his years in the United States. After founding SoftBank, he expanded the business beyond software distribution into telecommunications, internet businesses, technology investments, semiconductors, and artificial intelligence.
Masayoshi Son’s Career and SoftBank
Son’s career is closely connected with SoftBank’s transformation from a software company into a broad technology and investment group. One of the most important developments was SoftBank’s investment in Alibaba. The company later acquired Arm Holdings and created the SoftBank Vision Fund, giving Son a major presence across different parts of the global technology economy.
SoftBank’s official biography highlights its expansion into internet, telecommunications, and AI businesses, along with its investment in Alibaba, acquisition of Arm, and creation of the Vision Fund. These developments helped establish Son as an international technology investor rather than simply a Japanese telecommunications executive.
Masayoshi Son and His AI Strategy
Artificial intelligence has become one of the central themes of Son’s current business strategy. In SoftBank Group’s 2026 annual report, Son described artificial superintelligence as a major long-term focus and said the company aims to become a leading platform provider for the emerging ASI era.
SoftBank’s strategy now connects several areas of technology, including AI models, semiconductors, AI infrastructure, and robotics. Son has also placed strong emphasis on Arm and OpenAI as important components of SoftBank’s technology strategy.
Who Is Greg Hayes?
Gregory J. Hayes is an American corporate executive whose career is strongly associated with United Technologies and RTX. Unlike Son, Hayes did not build his career as a technology entrepreneur. His professional path developed through accounting, finance, corporate strategy, operations, and large-scale industrial management.
Hayes earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Purdue University and became a Certified Public Accountant. He joined United Technologies in 1999 through its merger with Sundstrand Corporation and eventually became the company’s Chief Financial Officer, CEO, and chairman.
Greg Hayes and United Technologies
Hayes became CFO of United Technologies in 2008 and served in that position until 2014. He then became CEO and later chairman, placing him in charge of one of America’s major industrial companies.
His tenure involved substantial restructuring. UTC divested Sikorsky Aircraft, acquired Rockwell Collins, and later separated Otis Elevator Company and Carrier Corporation. These moves changed the company’s structure and increased its focus on aerospace.
Greg Hayes and the Creation of RTX
One of Hayes’s most important career chapters came in 2020, when United Technologies combined its remaining aerospace businesses, including Pratt & Whitney and Collins Aerospace, with Raytheon Company. The resulting company became Raytheon Technologies and was later renamed RTX.
Hayes became CEO of the combined company and played a central role during its early development. RTX later described his career as instrumental in reshaping UTC into a focused aerospace company and leading the merger that created RTX.
What Happened to Greg Hayes at RTX?
Hayes stepped down as RTX’s CEO in May 2024, when Christopher T. Calio became President and CEO. Hayes then served as Executive Chairman of RTX. That position ended on April 30, 2025, when he stepped down from the company’s board.
RTX subsequently retained Hayes as a Special Advisor to the CEO through January 2, 2026. Therefore, descriptions of Hayes as the current RTX CEO or chairman are outdated.
What Does Greg Hayes Do Now?
Hayes moved into board-level leadership after leaving RTX. On May 13, 2026, Phillips 66 appointed him Lead Independent Director. The company says he also serves on several board committees, including nominating and governance, human resources and compensation, public policy and sustainability, and executive committees.
Hayes also serves on the board of Becton, Dickinson and Company. BD appointed him to its board in March 2025, citing his experience with large organizations, corporate transformation, finance, strategy, operations, and transactions. His current career therefore remains active even though his executive role at RTX has ended.
What Connects Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes?
There is no publicly documented family relationship between Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes. There is also no authoritative evidence that they have jointly founded or managed a company or maintained a major direct business partnership.
Their connection is mainly professional and comparative. Both have led or continue to influence large multinational organizations, and both have dealt with technology, capital allocation, corporate transformation, and long-term strategic planning. Their industries, however, remain substantially different.
How Their Leadership Paths Differ
Son followed a founder-led path. He created SoftBank and retained a major ownership position while continuing to direct the company’s strategy. His career has focused heavily on identifying technologies and businesses that could become important in future economic cycles.
Hayes followed a professional corporate path. He developed expertise in finance before taking senior leadership roles at UTC and eventually becoming CEO and chairman. His defining corporate work involved restructuring, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and aerospace operations.
Technology, Strategy and Corporate Transformation
Although Son and Hayes worked in different sectors, technology has been important to both careers. Son’s SoftBank strategy increasingly revolves around AI, semiconductors, computing infrastructure, robotics, and related technologies. His current corporate message places AI at the center of SoftBank’s long-term vision.
Hayes encountered technology through aerospace and industrial businesses rather than through venture investing. RTX operates through businesses including Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and Raytheon. These operations depend on advanced engineering, computing, communications, manufacturing, and other sophisticated technologies.
Their Business Legacies
Son’s legacy is closely connected with SoftBank’s evolution into a global technology investment group. The company’s investments and acquisitions have connected it with major technology companies and markets across telecommunications, e-commerce, semiconductors, and AI.
Hayes’s legacy is closely tied to the restructuring of United Technologies and the formation of RTX. His career helped transform UTC’s business portfolio and culminated in the combination of its aerospace operations with Raytheon in 2020.
Conclusion
Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes followed very different routes to international business leadership. Son built SoftBank from its 1981 beginnings and continues to lead the company as Chairman and CEO, with artificial intelligence now at the center of his long-term strategy.
Hayes developed through finance and corporate management, eventually becoming CEO and chairman of United Technologies before leading RTX during its formation and early years. After leaving RTX, he moved into board-level leadership, including his current role as Lead Independent Director of Phillips 66.
There is no established direct personal or business partnership between Son and Hayes. Their connection is better understood through their careers: one represents founder-led technology investing, while the other represents professional corporate leadership and industrial transformation.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Are Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes related?
There is no publicly verified evidence that Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes are related. Their careers developed independently in different industries.
2. Did Masayoshi Son and Greg Hayes work together?
There is no authoritative public record establishing a direct executive partnership between Son and Hayes. Son is associated with SoftBank and its technology investments, while Hayes built his career at United Technologies and RTX.
3. Is Greg Hayes still the CEO of RTX?
No. Christopher T. Calio became RTX’s President and CEO in May 2024. Hayes later served as Executive Chairman and then Special Advisor before completing his transition away from RTX in January 2026.
4. What does Greg Hayes do in 2026?
Hayes serves as Lead Independent Director of Phillips 66 and is also a director of Becton, Dickinson and Company.
5. What is Masayoshi Son best known for?
Masayoshi Son is best known as the founder and longtime leader of SoftBank. He is also associated with major technology investments, the acquisition of Arm, the company’s investment in Alibaba, and SoftBank’s current focus on artificial intelligence.
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