Trump, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced US investment of $100bn | Donald Trump News

Son made a similar pledge in 2016 to spend $50bn over Trump’s four-year term. It is unclear how SoftBank will fund the new investment.

President-elect Donald Trump, with SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at his side, announced that SoftBank will invest 100 billion in the United States over the next four years to boost the local economy.

In a joint appearance with Son on Monday, Trump said the investment would create 100,000 jobs focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and related infrastructure, with money to be spent before Trump’s term ends.

Trump said the investment was evidence of “great confidence in America’s future”. He encouraged Son to make a $200bn investment with a Japanese billionaire in response that he would try.

The $100bn pledge, made at a flag-draped ceremony at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, is in line with Trump’s pledge to strengthen the US economy and reduce the impact of inflation on Americans during his second term. starts on January 20.

Trump called Son “one of the most successful business leaders of our time”.

Monday’s announcement echoes the same promise Son made to then-President-elect Trump at an event at Trump Tower in New York City in December 2016, when Son said he would spend $50bn and create 50,000 jobs.

Although that money was eventually spent, it is not clear if those jobs were created. The company has been rebuilding its finances after the failure of leading office-sharing company WeWork and after some of the tech companies it invested in through its Vision Fund unit fell out of favor with investors.

The source of the fund is unclear

Trump has a penchant for extravagant announcements promising thousands of jobs, even if such investments don’t always last. At the start of his first term, he announced Foxconn’s $10bn investment in a Wisconsin factory that promised thousands of jobs but was largely abandoned.

It is unclear how SoftBank plans to fund the new investment. As of September 30, SoftBank had about $29bn in cash and cash equivalents, according to its latest earnings report. After a steep decline in shares between 2021 and 2023, its stock has bounced back, gaining nearly 50 percent year to date.

Funding could come from various sources controlled by SoftBank, including the Vision Fund, capital projects or chipmaker Arm Holdings, CNBC said.

Son has been a strong supporter of the possibilities of AI and has been looking to expand SoftBank’s exposure to this field, participating in OpenAI and acquiring the first Graphcore chip.

In October, Son reiterated his belief in the coming of artificial intelligence, saying it would require hundreds of billions of dollars in investment.

Son said at the time he was saving money “so I can take the next big step,” but did not provide details.

Trump promised last week to extend fast-track permits to any company that invests $1bn or more in the United States.