SoftBank announces new $108-billion Vision Fund with Apple, Microsoft

SoftBank Group’s founder Masayoshi Son launched a second Vision Fund, seeking to extend his reign as the world’s most influential technology investor.

The Japanese conglomerate will commit $38 billion to Vision Fund 2 with the goal of raising a total of $108 billion, SoftBank said Friday. Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan and a number of Japanese finance companies are also expected to contribute capital, SoftBank said. If the fundraising meets that goal, it would be even larger than the first $100 billion effort.

Son wants to raise a new massive fund every two or three years to take advantage of opportunities he sees in cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving. SoftBank in June disclosed that the initial Vision Fund has earned 62 per cent returns so far after making 71 investments for a total of $64.2 billion.