Softbank’s Masayoshi Son eyeing creating joint sovereign wealth fund between US, Japan for large ticket tech investments – Firstpost

SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son has proposed the creation of a joint sovereign wealth fund between the USA and Japan aimed toward large-scale investments in know-how and infrastructure tasks throughout the US.

Discussions concerning the concept have reached high-level officers in each Washington and Tokyo,
Monetary Occasions reported citing three people conversant in the matter. Although no formal proposal has but emerged, the fund might function a mannequin for different nations trying to strengthen funding relationships with the US.

Son has reportedly raised the idea straight with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and different senior authorities figures in current weeks, coinciding with ongoing US-Japan commerce negotiations. Japan continues to advocate for a zero-tariff association, whereas US negotiators have said that tariffs will stay at a baseline of no less than 10 per cent.

After a current phone dialog with US President Donald Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba indicated that he expects their upcoming assembly on the G7 summit in Canada in mid-June to be pivotal in advancing commerce talks.

Underneath the proposed association, the US Treasury and Japan’s Ministry of Finance would collectively handle and personal the fund, every holding substantial stakes. The partnership might later open to further buyers, probably even permitting peculiar residents from each nations to take part.

A person conversant in the discussions famous that for the fund to satisfy its funding objectives, it will require substantial preliminary funding, probably $300 billion, supplemented by vital leverage.

Officers see potential advantages within the sovereign wealth fund because it might generate new income streams for each governments with out elevating taxes. “The idea is that Bessent is searching for income streams for the Treasury that don’t contain elevating taxes, and nonetheless far out this joint fund could sound, it will in concept present that,” mentioned one particular person briefed on the main points. The supply added that the US views this as a shift away from earlier funding methods, probably setting a precedent for future government-to-government monetary partnerships.

Japan seeks clear governance to keep away from the uncertainties related to political selections made in Washington, aiming for steady and clear administration of the fund.

Son, identified for his shut ties to President Trump, beforehand unveiled a $500 billion mission in January dubbed Stargate, aiming to determine information centres and synthetic intelligence infrastructure within the US in collaboration with corporations similar to OpenAI and Oracle. This sort of initiative might appeal to funding from the proposed US-Japan joint sovereign wealth fund, in accordance with people conversant in Son’s targets.