Japan’s SoftBank Pledges $100 Billion—And 100,000 Jobs— To US For Trump’s Second Term

Posted by author December 16, 2024 Jobs

Japan’s SoftBank Pledges 0 Billion—And 100,000 Jobs— To US For Trump’s Second Term

Topline

SoftBank Group announced a multibillion-dollar investment into U.S. projects during President-elect Donald Trump’s second time in office, likely in AI jobs—doubling a similar promise SoftBank’s CEO made in Trump’s first term that created mixed results.

Donald Trump, left, and Masayoshi Son in 2018.

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Key Facts

SoftBank’s billionaire CEO Masayoshi Son and Trump jointly announced the initiative Monday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, matching earlier media reports.

Tokyo-based SoftBank will dedicate $100 billion to U.S. ventures over the next four years—double a similar commitment announced in December 2016 heading into Trump’s first presidential term.

“President Trump is a double down president, I’m going to have to double down,” Son said at the joint press conference.

The upcoming investment aims to bring an estimated 100,000 jobs in AI and related industries supporting the burgeoning technology, according to Son.

In 2019, Forbes found Son’s $50 billion pledge was largely fulfilled, though the jobs promise was difficult to track, and questionable, after the near-collapse of SoftBank-funded WeWork.

Crucial Quote

“He’s a great negotiator,” Son joked about Trump after the American asked Son to double his commitment to $200 billion.

What We Don’t Know

Exactly what SoftBank’s massive investment will entail. SoftBank, which is perhaps best known for its Vision Fund venture capital arm, is a major player in AI, with a majority stake in generative AI chip architect Arm Holdings and a $1.5 billion stake in OpenAI, maker of the viral ChatGPT chatbot. SoftBank has $30 billion of cash in hand, the Journal noted, meaning it’s also not fully known how the Japanese company will raise the full extent of the commitment.

Forbes Valuation

Son is the second-richest person in Japan and the 56th-richest person in the world with a $32 billion fortune, according to our estimates.

Key Background

Trump described Son as “one of the most accomplished business leaders of our time” on Monday. Son, who believes AI will be 10,000 times smarter than humans by 2035, is a part of a growing chorus of the ultra-rich seemingly bullish on the prospects of American industry under Trump. In addition to the world’s richest man Elon Musk’s significant backing of Trump, tech titans like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman all have expressed optimism about the U.S. tech industry’s prospects during Trump’s upcoming term and donated millions to his inauguration.