Brendan McDermid/Reuters
US President-elect Donald Trump and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son acknowledge guests after meeting at Trump Tower.
SoftBank's Vision Fund is officially the world's biggest private equity fund after it announced on Saturday that it had closed $93 billion.The extra $7 billion, bringing the fund's total to $100 billion, is expected to close in the next six months, SoftBank said in its announcement on Saturday.
It's a colossal amount of capital collected to invest in the next wave of technology companies, and it's size and focus has attracted backers like Apple and Qualcomm as a result. The billions invested will be directed towards the tech industry, ranging from companies in artificial intelligence to robotics and cloud technology.
The way the fund was publicized suggested that it intended to invest in startups and emerging technologies. In December, Son told President-elect Donald Trump that $50 billion of the fund would be invested in US startups and it would bring 50,000 jobs to the US as a result, according to Bloomberg.
While startups will be a part of the fund, SoftBank said in the press release that it's going to be investing in "established, multi-billion dollar companies requiring substantial growth funding" as well.
"Technology has the potential to address the biggest challenges and risks facing humanity today. The businesses working to solve these problems will require patient long-term capital and visionary strategic investment partners with the resources to nurture their success," said SoftBank chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in a press release. "The SoftBank Vision Fund is consistent with this strategy and will help build and grow businesses creating the foundational platforms of the next stage of the Information Revolution."
SoftBank announced the fund last October, saying that it would be based in London. Other high-profile backers now include Foxconn, Sharp, and the Mubadala Investment Company of the United Arab Emirates.