President-elect Donald Trump has high hopes for the future of the US - provided at least his campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" is daftly concerned. That's why Japanese tech billionaire Masayoshi Son received a warm welcome in his meeting with Trump at Trump Tower, in which he pledged to invest $50 billion on the US tech industry.
Son and Trump's dialogue was a warm and cordial one, to the extent that the President-elect referred to the tech tycoon by his nickname "Masa." Such extension of familiarity from a persona like Trump - whose rhetoric against critics tend to be vitriolic, provides intriguing insights into the Softbank founder's plans for the US.
For one, $50 billion sounds like a ridiculously exorbitant amount of money. Although there's no doubt that Son's highly capable of shelling out such a sum - he's the second-richest man in Japan, it comes from Softbank's partnership with a sovereign wealth fund from Saudi Arabia. Called the "Softbank Vision Fund," it's allotment for US tech startups is expected to churn out around more than 50,000 new jobs. That certainly sounds like music to Trump's ears - he has, after all, campaigned on a promise to bring more jobs for the American working class.
But why not Japan? That's certainly one question anyone may ask Son, considering that his country is on the verge of economic rebuilding through Abenomics - aptly named after current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Whereas Abe's program seeks to increase more jobs through structural reforms, it nonetheless remains defiant insofar as innovations to energy is concerned.
Abe's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) staunchly supports the use of nuclear power, despite the radiation crisis triggered by the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Such has been met with increasing calls to shift to an alternative source - an opening Son has long sought to replace with renewable energy. Son's investments in Sprint and ARM Holdings - both foreign companies, turned his portfolio into one that goes against the rigidity of Japan, Inc.
Moreover, Japan's continuously-flagging and ageing population, as well as its stagnant inflation, prompted Son to look for international opportunities. Son's meeting with Trump alone, investment pledge made and all, resulted to a 6.1% increase in Softbank's share price. His interview with Nikkei greatly characterizes that approach: "I think I'm better than others at sniffing out things that will bear fruit in 10 or 20 years while they're still at the seed stage, and I'm more willing to take the risks that entails."
So why the US, and not Japan? Son's ability to see growth where it's most opportune - in the US under a new regime that prioritizes job creation than in Japan where structural reforms are merely an illusion concealing anti-growth tradition, simply highlights his shrewdness. It's still early to speculate whether the tycoon's multibillion investment would work to the benefit of the US working class as intended, but his past deals reflect a sense of consistent success.