Japan’s SoftBank to Invest $50 Billion in U.S., Trump Says

Bloomberg

President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Twitter that SoftBank Group Corp. founder and Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son will invest $50 billion in the U.S., creating 50,000 new jobs.

Son told reporters the funding would go to “new companies, startup companies in the United States.” The Japanese billionaire is developing a $100 billion technology fund with the government of Saudi Arabia, though it’s unclear whether that would be part of the U.S. investment.  

Trump’s tweet came after a meeting Tuesday in New York with Son, whose Tokyo-based company is the parent of No. 4 U.S. wireless operator Sprint Corp. Shares of Sprint rose 4 percent to $8.37 at 2:50 p.m. in New York. No. 3 carrier T-Mobile US Inc., which has long been mentioned as possible merger partner for Sprint, climbed as much as 3 percent to $56.66.

“We were talking about it, and then I said I’d like to celebrate his presidential job” because Trump will advocate deregulation, Son told reporters following the meeting.

The president-elect has met with numerous other business leaders at Trump Tower in New York, including Marion Blakey, CEO of Rolls Royce North America Inc., and Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television. On Tuesday, Trump was also scheduled to meet with Exxon-Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson, who’s said to be under consideration for secretary of state.

SoftBank and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund unveiled their new venture in October. The Japanese company said it will invest $25 billion, while Saudi Arabia committed $45 billion. The two have been talking to other investors for the remaining $30 billion. When plans for the fund were first announced, Son said that he planned on being the biggest investor in technology over the next decade. Son said last week during a trip to India that he is close to tying up the $100 billion.

Son made his fortune from investments in Japan and China, but has had a mixed record in the U.S. SoftBank bought control of Sprint in 2013 only to see it lose ground to rivals including T-Mobile. Son considered buying T-Mobile a year later, before abandoning the effort when officials at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department signaled they were against a theoretical merger. A Trump administration is seen are far more likely to bless the tie-up.

Son’s best argument to a Trump’s Justice Department and a Republican-led FCC may be that Sprint would never be a robust fourth competitor if left alone. Since that aborted attempt to combine Sprint and T-Mobile two years ago, the companies have been on separate trajectories. While Sprint has had to address financing by mortgaging assets and cutting costs to stay solvent, T-Mobile has sharpened its image as the underdog challenger to Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. carriers, respectively. And by offering features like free video streaming, carryover data and low prices, T-Mobile has become the fastest-growing U.S. carrier.

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