Thursday, December 8, 2016

UPDATES on the Trump SoftBank and Carrier Job Deals: The Rest of the Story

Trump Makes a Deal with SoftBank: Well, Sort of a Deal 
(At Trump Tower with CEO Masayoshi Son)

Speech at Carrier: Presidential or Campaign Stop



Original News Story (December 6, 2016) (and also the following post): Donald Trump announced that Japan's *SoftBank (more below) has agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S., aiming to create 50,000 jobs. He announced the deal after meeting with SoftBank CEO, Masayoshi Son, a Japanese billionaire and technology investor at the Trump Tower in New York City. 

Then on Twitter later that same day (always on Twitter, right?) Trump claimed that Mr. Son said he would never do this if Trump had not won the presidential election.”

But, the $50 billion that Trump said Mr. Son said he “WOULD NEVER DO THIS HAD TRUMP NOT WON THE ELECTION” will in fact come from a previously-announced $100 billion international investment fund set up with Saudi Arabia, according to Dow Jones and reported on by Reuters here.  

*SoftBank Group Corporation (not a traditional bank per se) “So-fu-to banku Gurū-pu Kabu-shiki-gai-sha” is a Japanese multinational telecommunications and Internet corporation established on September 3, 1981, headquartered in Tokyo.
It has operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, Internet, technology, finance, media, marketing, semiconductor design, and other hi-tech businesses. 

SoftBank is headed by its founder Masayoshi Son (Japanese-Korean: 손정의). He has a personal worth of some $17 billion. It was ranked in the Forbes Global 2000 list as the 62nd largest public company in the world, and the third largest public company in Japan listed after Toyota and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial. Between 2009 and 2014, SoftBank market capitalization increased by 557%, the fourth largest relative increase in the world over that period.

Update on all this from the Washington Post (December 8, 2016): My emphasis (in RED) make me wonder if this the trend of Donald Trump we’ll see in the White House to “Make America Great Again, to simply pad the Trump bottom line and trademark (his family name) for those who get a direct business line to him? If so, then we are in very bad shape as a country – as a people – as a whole.
Now, as the late great Paul Harvey used to say: “Now the rest of the story” about that SoftBank “deal.”
When President-elect Donald Trump made that announcement on Tuesday that Japanese corporate giant SoftBank had agreed to invest $50 billion in the United States and create 50,000 new jobs, he presented it as a triumph for American workers.
But, [now] economists and analysts who have been scrutinizing the announcement suggest it might be a bigger win for the Japanese telecom and Internet Conglomerate, SoftBank, and its billionaire founder, Masayoshi Son [than for any American workers, et al], to wit:
Analysts said the Japanese company could be angling for lucrative benefits, including the regulatory approval to carry out one of the largest telecom mergers in recent history, between Sprint, which SoftBank owns, and rival carrier T-Mobile. It could also be cultivating a friendly environment for further technology investments Son is seeking to make in the United States.
I think Son must have thought how to use Trump and this opportunity for his business,” said Mana Nakazora, chief credit analyst at BNP Paribas Securities.
Shares of SoftBank Group rose 6.2 percent on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday to close at their highest level in more than a year. Shares of Sprint Corp. rose nearly 9 percent on Wednesday, while T-Mobile’s stock climbed more than 4 percent. Collectively, the companies added billions of dollars in market value after the announcement.
Trump said Tuesday on Twitter that Son said he would not have made the investment if Trump had not won the election – they key to this bogus statement is above about that money (will in fact come from a previously-announced $100 billion international investment fund set up with Saudi Arabia), that according to Dow Jones and reported on by Reuters here.

What to make of this? Simple: Trump continues to seek and stay in the limelight as the center of attraction and never, and I mean never, let anyone or anything upstage him … from now until Hell freezes over … and we know how long that will take (never).

Trump continues to show he will do anything, say anything, lie about anything, and threaten anyone at any time (i.e., threats made towards Chuck Jones the Carrier local Union President soon after Trump tweeted nasty stuff about him that story is here), and about anything to get what he wants for himself and then arrogantly claim it is to “Make America Great Again.” All I can say is bullshit…

At some point with Trump, it will be too late to turn back. I am never one to cry wolf or to cry over spilled milk (to coin two old clichés), but folks, this the most-troubling I have seen of this nature in my lifetime. What about you?

My assessment with Trump: It will only get worse, I hope I am wrong, but these recent key events (SoftBank and Carrier) I believe bode ill in the long run, but time will tell.
Thanks for stopping by. 


1 comment:

Unknown said...

I noticed some of your comments on a Watertown Daily Times article about Stefanik's campaign contributions. I think we should start organizing for 2018. send me an e-mail pgarnsey@gmail.com if you agree/are interested.