NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two of Asia’s biggest technology companies said they were looking to expand investment in the United States, as President-elect Donald Trump pushes to bring manufacturing and jobs back home. 
 
 Billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son, also the head of Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T), pledged a $50 billion investment in the United States, and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier Foxconn said it was in preliminary discussions to expand its U.S. operations. 
 
 Son said on Tuesday, after meeting Trump, his investment would create 50,000 new jobs, a move the U.S. President-elect claimed was a direct result of his election win. 
 
 The investment pledge revived speculation that U.S. telecoms giant Sprint Corp (S.N), 82 percent owned by SoftBank, might rekindle merger talks with T-Mobile US Inc (TMUS.O) that died under pressure from U.S. regulators. 
 
 The lack of details on the investment timetable also prompted doubts on whether the promise of money and jobs will be met, as Sprint is slashing staff numbers to cut more than $2 billion in costs this fiscal year. 
 
 Trump’s moves since the election to engage with individual companies, while turning his back on broader, years-in-the-works trade deals, show that he is leaning on the deal-making skills he honed in the boardroom. 
 
 Trump campaigned against the over-regulation of business and is expected to be more open to mergers than President Barack Obama. 
 
 The $50 billion investment, announced jointly by Trump and Son in the lobby of the Trump Tower in Manhattan, would come from the $100 billion tech investment fund the head of SoftBank is setting up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund and other potential partners, according to the Wall Street Journal. 
 
 “Ladies and gentlemen, this is Masa from SoftBank of Japan, and he’s just agreed to invest $50 billion in the United States and 50,000 jobs,” Trump said. 
 
 “He would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!” Trump later Tweeted. 
 
 Son, who wore a red tie and red sweater under his suit jacket, told reporters his company, a $68 billion telecommunications and tech investment behemoth, would create the jobs by investing in startup companies. 
 
 He also said he expected a lot of “deregulation” under a Trump administration. 
 
 U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son speak to the press after meeting at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., December 6, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid 
 
 Trump and Son did not give a timeline for the investment. Trump’s four-year term will begin after his Jan. 20 inauguration. 
 
 Son’s business partner Foxconn issued a brief statement after a report by broadcaster CNBC showing a snapshot of a page held by Son outlining the investment carrying the logos of SoftBank and the Taiwanese firm, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (2317.TW). 
 
 The page also showed an additional $7 billion investment and creation of a further 50,000 jobs. (cnb.cx/2he38VQ) 
 
 “While the scope of the potential investment has not been determined, we will announce the details of any plans following the completion of direct discussions between our leadership and the relevant US officials,” the Foxconn statement said. 
 
 Son and Foxconn founder Terry Gou are considered close and have several business ventures together, including launching humanoid Pepper - which is manufactured by Foxconn - into several markets, and investing jointly in India. 
 
 Foxconn has manufacturing facilities in the U.S. states of Virginia and Indiana, according to its website (here). Its 2015 annual report also listed logistics services in California and Texas. 
 
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 SHARES SURGE 
 
 In October, prior to the election, SoftBank said Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be the lead partner in the $100 billion tech fund and could invest up to $45 billion over the next five years. SoftBank expects to put in at least $25 billion. 
 
 Shares in SoftBank jumped 6.2 percent on Wednesday in Tokyo to their highest since August last year. 
 
 “Now the market sees SoftBank as a Trump-related stock and that’s because it reacted favorably to their meeting,” said Fumio Matsumoto, a fund manager at Dalton Capital in Japan. 
 
 Son had hoped to merge Sprint with T-Mobile US to take on U.S. market leaders AT&T; Inc (T.N) and Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N). 
 
 Shares of Sprint briefly reached their highest level in 2-1/2 years, soon after Son’s comments. They closed up 1.5 percent, while shares of T-Mobile US rose 1.8 percent. 
 
 It was not immediately clear how much of SoftBank’s investment had been disclosed before. SoftBank said on Nov. 7, the day before the U.S. election, it planned to make future large-scale investments via the $100 billion fund, rather than on its own, to avoid growing already-bloated debt. 
 
 Whether or not Trump’s election led to SoftBank’s planned investment, the billionaire’s victory has been a boon to stock investors. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at another record level on Tuesday, its 11th new high since the Nov. 8 vote. 
 
 Should the SoftBank fund grow as large as $100 billion, it would be one of the world’s largest private equity investors and a potential kingpin in the technology sector. 
 
 SoftBank, a diverse firm that also holds stakes in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (BABA.N), has been stepping up investment in new areas, as Son aims to make the firm the “Berkshire Hathaway of the tech industry”. It purchased U.K. chip design firm Arm Holdings for $32 billion this year in Japan’s largest ever outbound deal. ||||| SoftBank Group Corp. Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son told President-elect Donald Trump he would create 50,000 new jobs in the U.S. through a $50 billion investment in startups and new companies. 
 
 The money will come from SoftBank’s previously announced $100 billion technology fund, according to a person familiar with the matter. That investment vehicle has a $45 billion commitment from the government of Saudi Arabia and $25 billion from Tokyo-based SoftBank, which operates technology and wireless companies around the world. 
 
 The pledge helps SoftBank, which controls U.S. wireless carrier Sprint Corp., get off to a good start with Trump after failing to win the Obama administration’s backing for a plan to consolidate the mobile-phone market. SoftBank shares rose as much as 5.1 percent to 7,311 yen in early trading in Tokyo, their highest since August 2015. 
 
 Some investments from SoftBank’s fund, which was unveiled in October, were probably destined for the U.S. anyway, given the nation’s leadership in the global technology industry. But Son hadn’t previously committed to creating a specific amount of jobs through the investment vehicle. 
 
 Trump was the one to announce the job-creation pledge, taking to Twitter after a meeting with Son Tuesday. “Masa said he would never do this had we not won the election!” the president-elect tweeted. 
 
 Son is known for making bold projections about the future. In 2010, he laid out a 300-year plan for his company that involved investing in 5,000 companies by 2040 to give his unborn successors a base to build on. 
 
 SoftBank and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund unveiled their new venture weeks before the Nov. 8 presidential election. The two have been talking to other investors for the $30 billion they need to reach their $100 billion goal. When plans for the fund were first announced, Son said that he planned on being the biggest investor in technology over the next decade. 
 
 SoftBank’s U.S. unit, No. 4 U.S. wireless operator Sprint, rose 1.5 percent at $8.17 at the close. T-Mobile US Inc., which has long been mentioned as a possible merger partner for Sprint, rose 1.8 percent to $55.99 on speculation Son’s pledges could aid an eventual deal. 
 
 “Getting him on board gives any future mergers a better shot at passing regulatory muster,” said Jan Dawson, an analyst at Jackdaw Research LLC. “Trump has no right to insist that SoftBank invest any amount in the U.S., but making such commitments makes Trump look good, as Carrier and Ford have already shown, which seems to be the currency he appreciates most.” 
 
 The $50 billion U.S. investment by SoftBank isn’t intended for mergers and acquisitions such as T-Mobile, said the person familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. 
 
 “We were talking about it, and then I said I’d like to celebrate his presidential job” because Trump will advocate deregulation, Son, 59, told reporters following the meeting. 
 
 The president-elect has met with numerous other business leaders at Trump Tower in New York, including Marion Blakey, CEO of Rolls Royce North America Inc., and Robert Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television. On Tuesday, Trump was also scheduled to meet with Exxon-Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson, who’s said to be under consideration for secretary of state. 
 
 Son in the U.S. 
 
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 Son made his fortune from investments in Japan and China, but has had a mixed record in the U.S. SoftBank bought control of Sprint in 2013 only to see it lose ground to rivals including T-Mobile. Son considered buying T-Mobile a year later, before abandoning the effort when officials at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission and Justice Department signaled they were against a theoretical merger. 
 
 Since that aborted attempt to combine Sprint and T-Mobile two years ago, the companies have been on separate trajectories. While Sprint has had to address financing by mortgaging assets and cutting costs to stay solvent, T-Mobile has sharpened its image as the underdog challenger to Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc., the No. 1 and No. 2 U.S. carriers, respectively. And by offering features like free video streaming, carryover data and low prices, T-Mobile has become the fastest-growing U.S. carrier. ||||| Tweet with a location 
 
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– Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son is investing $50 billion in the US and creating 50,000 jobs in a deal that wouldn't have happened without Donald Trump, according to Donald Trump. Son, the CEO of SoftBank Group, joined Trump in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday to announce the investment, reports Reuters. The tycoon, whose company controls wireless carrier Sprint and had a bid to merge it with T-Mobile turned down by US regulators, told reporters that he expects a lot of "deregulation" under Trump. "Masa (SoftBank) of Japan has agreed to invest $50 billion in the U.S. toward businesses and 50,000 new jobs," Trump later tweeted. "Masa said he would never do this had we (Trump) not won the election!" Son says he plans to invest in startups but it's not clear exactly how the money will be spent—or how much of it was earmarked for the US before the election. An insider tells Bloomberg that the money will come from SoftBank's $100 billion technology fund, which includes $45 billion from Saudi Arabia. In Japan, SoftBank shares soared more than 6% after the announcement, though analysts aren't sure whether a Sprint-T-Mobile merger will get the green light from the incoming administration if Son tries again, reports the Wall Street Journal. "Mr. Trump is a shrewd businessman, and he has said he will put America first," says InfoCom analyst Hitoshi Sato. "I'm not so sure how he will view a Japanese company merging the nation’s largest mobile carriers." (A Trump tweet briefly made Boeing stock dip Tuesday.)