SoftBank Group has published its annual report, which is filled with pages of discussion of its mission and vision. Of course, SoftBank’s recent history has been troubled, in terms of tangible results, and so it is worth remembering how we got to this point – where it has seemingly unlimited cash to throw at the wall, in the hope that something sticks. Founded in 1981, SoftBank intended to become a ‘software bank.’ It sold PC software, launched a publishing arm, launched Yahoo Japan in 1996, and crucially was an early investor in Chinese giant Alibaba. It acquired Japan Telecom in 2004, to get into the fixed-line broadband business, and bought Vodafone’s Japanese operations in 2006, to get into mobile. Its…