LONDON, May 27 (Xinhua) -- Masayoshi Son, founder of Japan's SoftBank Group, has proposed the creation of a joint sovereign wealth fund between the United States and Japan to facilitate large-scale investments in U.S. technology and infrastructure, the Financial Times (FT) reported.
Citing three people familiar with the matter, the FT said on Sunday that the proposal was initiated by Son's team and has been raised at senior political levels in both Washington and Tokyo.
Although the idea has not yet materialized into a formal proposal, preliminary discussions have taken place between the U.S. Treasury Department and Japan's Ministry of Finance, according to the report.
Son has reportedly discussed the concept directly with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and presented it to other top officials in both governments.
Under the suggested wealth fund structure, the U.S. Treasury Department and the Japanese Ministry of Finance would be joint owners and operators of the fund, each with a significant stake. They would then open the vehicle to other limited partner investors, and could potentially offer ordinary Americans and Japanese the chance to own a slice, said the report.
According to one source cited by the FT, the fund could launch with up to 300 billion U.S. dollars in initial capital and be significantly leveraged to maximize its impact.
The report noted that the fund's appeal lies in its potential to deliver a steady revenue stream to both governments.
The U.S. Treasury Department and SoftBank declined to comment, according to the FT. ■
