After chastising Carlos Slim during the election, he has changed his mind. Supprised? Also his boast that Mr Son was only investing $500 billion because of his victory turns out to be false. apan's SoftBank says it's taken "the first step" in its pledge to invest $50 billion in the United States.
The tech company is injecting $1 billion into Florida startup OneWeb, which aims to provide Internet access from small satellites orbiting the Earth.
On the surface, the news fits nicely with SoftBank (SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi "Masa" Son's promise to President-elect Donald Trump to pour money into the U.S. to create 50,000 new jobs.
But it raises further questions about how much of the $50 billion he pledged earlier this month would have ended up in the U.S. anyway.
After meeting with Son earlier this month, Trump quickly claimed credit for the huge investment promise, tweeting: "Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!"
Related: The 'crazy' Japanese billionaire who met Trump has a 300-year plan
The reality turns out to be a bit more complicated. Son told The Wall Street Journal that the money promised to Trump would come from a $100 billion technology investment fund that SoftBank announced with the government of Saudi Arabia in October, weeks before the election.
Given that the U.S. has the leading startup sector in the world, it seems likely that much of the fund's money would have found its way there regardless.
The OneWeb deal further complicates the picture. That money is coming directly from SoftBank rather than the fund, which is "still in the early planning stages," according to Softbank spokesman Matthew Nicholson.
Related: The big money behind Trump's tech deal is from Saudi Arabia
Nicholson disputed that Son said the $50 billion investment in the U.S. would come entirely from the fund. Get an honest word out”? There’s the real tip-off. Courtesy of CNN.
Like his nonstop tweets, Trump’s purpose in holding these rallies is to connect directly with a large and enthusiastic base of followers who will believe what he says — and thereby reject facts from mainstream media, policy analysts, government agencies that collect data, and the scientific community.
During his just-completed thank-you tour, Trump repeatedly claimed, for example, that the murder rate in the United States is the largest it’s been in 45 years. In fact, it’s near a 50-year low, according to the FBI.
He also repeatedly said he won the election by a “landslide,” when in fact he lost the popular vote by 2.8 million votes — over five times greater than Al Gore’s margin over George W. Bush in 2000.
And Trump repeatedly asserted that the election was marred by massive voting fraud, when in fact there has been no evidence of voting fraud at all (unless you consider the possibility that Russia hacked into our voting systems — which Trump dismisses).
A democracy depends on truth. Trump’s claims that the murder rate is soaring may elicit support for policies such as harsher policing and sentencing — the opposite of what we need. His assertions that he won by a landslide may give him a mandate he doesn’t deserve. His claims of massive voter fraud could legitimize further efforts to suppress votes through rigid ID and other requirements. Courtesy of Truthdig.
The tech company is injecting $1 billion into Florida startup OneWeb, which aims to provide Internet access from small satellites orbiting the Earth.
On the surface, the news fits nicely with SoftBank (SFTBF) CEO Masayoshi "Masa" Son's promise to President-elect Donald Trump to pour money into the U.S. to create 50,000 new jobs.
But it raises further questions about how much of the $50 billion he pledged earlier this month would have ended up in the U.S. anyway.
After meeting with Son earlier this month, Trump quickly claimed credit for the huge investment promise, tweeting: "Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!"
Related: The 'crazy' Japanese billionaire who met Trump has a 300-year plan
The reality turns out to be a bit more complicated. Son told The Wall Street Journal that the money promised to Trump would come from a $100 billion technology investment fund that SoftBank announced with the government of Saudi Arabia in October, weeks before the election.
Given that the U.S. has the leading startup sector in the world, it seems likely that much of the fund's money would have found its way there regardless.
The OneWeb deal further complicates the picture. That money is coming directly from SoftBank rather than the fund, which is "still in the early planning stages," according to Softbank spokesman Matthew Nicholson.
Related: The big money behind Trump's tech deal is from Saudi Arabia
Nicholson disputed that Son said the $50 billion investment in the U.S. would come entirely from the fund. Get an honest word out”? There’s the real tip-off. Courtesy of CNN.
Like his nonstop tweets, Trump’s purpose in holding these rallies is to connect directly with a large and enthusiastic base of followers who will believe what he says — and thereby reject facts from mainstream media, policy analysts, government agencies that collect data, and the scientific community.
During his just-completed thank-you tour, Trump repeatedly claimed, for example, that the murder rate in the United States is the largest it’s been in 45 years. In fact, it’s near a 50-year low, according to the FBI.
He also repeatedly said he won the election by a “landslide,” when in fact he lost the popular vote by 2.8 million votes — over five times greater than Al Gore’s margin over George W. Bush in 2000.
And Trump repeatedly asserted that the election was marred by massive voting fraud, when in fact there has been no evidence of voting fraud at all (unless you consider the possibility that Russia hacked into our voting systems — which Trump dismisses).
A democracy depends on truth. Trump’s claims that the murder rate is soaring may elicit support for policies such as harsher policing and sentencing — the opposite of what we need. His assertions that he won by a landslide may give him a mandate he doesn’t deserve. His claims of massive voter fraud could legitimize further efforts to suppress votes through rigid ID and other requirements. Courtesy of Truthdig.
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