Apple Confirms $1 Billion Investment in SoftBank Vision Fund

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) confirmed Wednesday that it plans to invest $1 billion in SoftBank Group Corp.’s new technology fund to help finance technologies it could use in the future.

Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said, “We believe their new fund will speed the development of technologies which may be strategically important to Apple.” She added Apple has worked with the Japanese telecom company for many years.

The SoftBank Vision Fund, announced in October, aims to raise $100 billion. It is set to formally launch in the coming weeks. In addition to Apple and SoftBank, which is investing $25 billion, Saudi Arabia’s government is investing $45 billion. Others who have discussed investing include the sovereign-wealth fund of Abu Dhabi, the Qatar Investment Authority and chip maker Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM).

By Tripp Mickle