[News] SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son Commits USD 100 Billion U.S. Investment at Trump Event

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According to a report from Money DJ, citing The Japan Times, on the 16th, Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of Japan’s SoftBank Group, met with the incoming U.S. President, Donald Trump, and announced that SoftBank will invest USD 100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years, a move expected to create 100,000 jobs.

Masayoshi Son is not the only business leader to make investment commitments following Trump’s election. According to The Japan Times, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has pledged USD 1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund. Meta, Amazon, and AI startup Perplexity have also each committed USD 1 million.

As for the use of SoftBank’s investment, the report notes that Masayoshi Son did not provide specific details. However, AI-related investments—such as AI data centers—are expected to be a primary focus. The USD 100 billion investment plan will likely involve not only SoftBank Group itself but also its Vision Fund (SVF) or its subsidiary, the UK-based semiconductor design giant Arm.

The report from The Japan Times notes that Masayoshi Son has been heavily investing in AI. In October, SoftBank invested USD 500 million in OpenAI and intends to expand that investment further.

This investment recalls December 2016, when Son pledged a USD 50 billion investment and promised to create 50,000 jobs, as noted in the report. According to The Japan Times, SoftBank was among several companies that made similar pledges at the time. Through its Vision Fund, the company actively invested in U.S. businesses. However, SoftBank later faced challenges, as many of its investments struggled, including a multibillion-dollar stake in WeWork, the office-space startup that eventually filed for bankruptcy.

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(Photo credit: Trump’s Truth Social)