Softbank Group Corp is planning to lend as much as US$20 billion to its employees to buy stakes in its second venture capital fund following the success of a US$100 billion fund to invest in tech start-ups, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The second Vision Fund aims to raise US$108 billion, Softbank said earlier.
In addition to its employees, it is also expected to collect money from Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) and the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan. It has also won support from Japanese financial institutions, with seven identified as signing memorandums of understanding to participate.
Softbank founder and chief executive officer Masayoshi Son might account for half of the employee investment pool, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter who it did not identify.
Son has a net worth of US$16.9 billion, making him Japan’s second-richest person, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Softbank also said earlier that it is committing US$38 billion in capital itself to the fund.
Earlier this month, Softbank reported first-quarter profit that beat the highest analyst estimate with valuation gains from Vision Fund investments such as Slack Technologies Inc, which went public in June, hotel chain OYO Rooms and food-delivery app DoorDash Inc. The gains were offset by a ¥195.3 billion (US$1.8 billion) decline in the fair value of holdings including Uber Technologies Inc.
Softbank also said the Vision Fund held 81 investments worth about US$66.3 billion. Softbank in June disclosed the first fund had earned 62 percent returns so far.
About five or six companies from the fund will list by March next year, Son said earlier.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI