SoftBank and Masa Son Bet on the American AI Boom

Japanese businessman Masayoshi Son and the designated U.S. President Donald Trump have announced ambitious plans: The SoftBank Group intends to invest 100 billion dollars in the U.S. over the next four years. This commitment aims to particularly advance the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure and create a total of 100,000 new jobs – twice the amount of the 50,000 promised after Trump's election victory in 2016. The founder and CEO of the SoftBank Group, Masayoshi Son, is known for his risky but often profitable decisions. SoftBank has extensive investments in Silicon Valley start-ups as well as in major companies like the semiconductor design company Arm and the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. While the value of his assets has risen due to the stock market upswing and the AI hype, it remains to be seen whether these investments will actually create as many jobs. Masayoshi Son, who comes from humble beginnings, founded SoftBank in the 1980s and expanded the company from a telecommunications provider to a corporation with renewable energy and technology holdings. He made a name for himself as a pioneer in the internet industry and made early investments in Silicon Valley start-ups. He also became known for the acquisition of the U.S. mobile provider Sprint in 2012, Japan's largest overseas transaction at that time. SoftBank has recently benefited from rising values of some investments, including the U.S. e-commerce provider Coupang and the Chinese mobility company DiDi Global. Son's early investment in Yahoo and Alibaba has particularly paid off, with the latter developing into an e-commerce empire with a market capitalization of over 200 billion dollars.