“This is Masa of SoftBank from Japan,” Mr. Trump said before boasting
that Mr. Son’s SoftBank — which is in the process of amassing a giant $100 billion fund — had pledged to invest $50 billion in the United States and would create 50,000 jobs here.
All that said, can you imagine if Mr. Trump stood in the lobby of Trump Tower with Prince
Mohammed talking about a $50 billion investment in the United States from Saudi Arabia?
Yet unmentioned that day — and largely unremarked upon — is
that Mr. Son’s $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund could reasonably be described as a front for Saudi Arabia and perhaps other countries in the Middle East.
Son has pledged to provide a quarter of the fund himself, hardly any of the money comes from investors in the United States
— with the exception of several nominal $1 billion investments, including from Apple, Qualcomm and Larry Ellison of Oracle.
While Mr. Trump wants to stimulate foreign investment in the United States, he has also talked tough about the Middle East and terrorism.
Last year, however, when Saudi Arabia invested $3.5 billion in Uber, it kicked up some dust: Fortune magazine said the deal “poses a sort
of moral dilemma for Silicon Valley; forcing businesses to weigh investors’ record and financial firepower against their principles.”
Saudi Arabia has been transparent about its plans to diversify its economy away from its dependence on oil.
