B (3:32)

It sounds like there aren't a lot of options here for people and that's why they're turning to crypto. How does the government feel about crypto?

D (3:40)

Well, the government has had a checkered history over crypto. First off, they'd floated the idea of launching their own kind of oil backed cryptocurrency called the Petro. It went nowhere. They have a crypto regulating body which is currently being investigated by Venezuelan authorities over corruption within the system that is widely regarded as corrupt. So the government's attitude on crypto has kind of shifted quite a bit both in terms of promoting cryptocurrencies and then cracking down and saying that they are a a method for corruption within the government.

B (4:23)

Joe, given all this, do you think that cryptocurrencies pose a real challenge to the Bolivar in Venezuela?

D (4:31)

I think it's possible. Cryptocurrencies just like US Dollars and the Brazilian real or the Colombian peso in the border regions, all of these different currencies represent different payment methods because people don't want to use Bolivars because they devalue so quickly. And as a result people are losing faith in their own currency. That's obviously a huge problem and it poses challenges to the economy. You have a shadow currency being widely used. You have more transactions taking place outside of regulators oversight.

B (5:07)

Joe Daniels covers South America for the ft. Thanks, Joe.

D (5:10)

Thanks, Mark.

B (5:18)

British boardrooms seem to love a fresh face. In the first quarter of this year, more than half of FTSE 100 companies chose external candidates as their new CEO. That's according to a nonprofit called 25 by 25. That is way higher than rival markets. A little less than a third of The S&P 500 welcomed newcomers. And Germany's Dax had a little less than a quarter. So why are UK companies gunning for outsiders? Well, it seems like it comes down to poor planning. 25 by 25 surveyed UK board members. They found that companies lacked internal leaders who could manage sudden upheaval or who could reposition the organization for growth. And the impacts go well beyond the boardroom. The 25 by 25 initiative found failures in succession planning could present a risk to the broader. Softbank founder Masayoshi sun is a legendary tech investor and now he's one of Donald Trump's favorite investors too son led a big investment in OpenAI and pushed SoftBank to buy $2 billion worth of intel stock earlier this month. It's part of SoftBank's US dealmaking spree that's turned sun into an unofficial diplomat between Washington and Tokyo. Here with me to talk about this is the FT's David Keohan. Hey, David.

C (6:42)

Hey, nice to be here.

B (6:44)

Okay, so just to start us off, SoftBank is a tech heavy investment fund. It has invested in a lot of US companies like Uber and more infamously, WeWork. What's different about what's happening over the past two months or so?

C (6:59)

So if we think about SoftBank's evolution a long way back, it used to be kind of an operating company. Masturichison was the guy who brought the iPhone to Japan. And then through the Vision funds, the tech heavy investment vehicles, it made what were for a while very concentrated bets, including the disastrous one on WeWork, and then quite a few smaller bets. What's different this time, both for SoftBank and in the US is that Masa Masayoshi sun is concentrated entirely on AI. He's concentrating a lot, increasingly a lot of his firepower in the United States.

B (7:32)

And how much of this recent investment can we actually attribute to Sun's relationship with Trump?

C (7:38)

He would be doing some of this anyway. What he's currently signed up for, what he's agreed to do in terms of the fundraising for OpenAI, in terms of the 2 billion stake in intel, these are minority stakes. Where it gets more interesting is what could come next. The FT has reported that SoftBank has had designs on Intel's foundry business, which would actually make the semiconductors and would be considered a very strategic asset. Masa is also one of the leads on the Stargate project, which is this 500 billion data center build out with OpenAI and Oracle and some other funders. And he has designs on this very ambitious project to bring semiconductor equipment makers, materials to Arizona. So if he goes from being somebody who has minority financial stakes to someone who owns physical assets, I think the relationship to Trump would be incredibly important.

B (8:39)

Why do you think they're so buddy? Buddy?

C (8:41)

Well, firstly, Master Shaissan is very good at this. He's very good at getting close to people in power. He is extremely charismatic and I think Massa knows how to appeal to Trump. I mean, we promised 100 billion investment, got on stage with Trump and then a couple months later he was back. He was in the White House with Sam Altman of OpenAI, with Larry Ellison of Oracle giving Trump another huge win in terms of the Stargate investment. The two play golf together regularly, the two chat regularly. They're just very close. Because I think Massa as a risk taker, as a very, very wealthy man, appeals to Trump, appeals to his sensibilities, and he also is able to say to Trump, you know what? I get Japan. Japan is a very important ally. I'll help you there.

B (9:30)

I'm so glad that you brought that up. I'm really curious, David, what are you hearing from Japanese officials, Japanese diplomats, about how they feel about the relationship between Son and Trump?

C (9:41)

Masa's relationship with Donald Trump is very clearly an asset to the Japanese. Obviously, Masayoshi Son is a businessman. He is acting in self interest. So Japanese diplomats are both intrigued and keen to take advantage of this relationship, but also wary and frustrated because increasingly he is seen as a gatekeeper. He is seen as the guy who filters some of the conversations between Tokyo and Washington, as one of the people we spoke to said. And I think it's probably true to say that Tokyo bureaucrats who are trained to approach things in a certain way probably also see Masayoshi san as someone they cannot fully control or understand because he is outside of the norms of Tokyo and the way he operates, similar to Donald Trump. Maybe another thing that allows them to see eye to eye.

B (10:35)

That's the FT's David Keoghan. Thanks, David.

C (10:39)

Thanks so much. That was good fun.

B (10:44)

You can read more on all these stories for free when you click the links in our show notes. This has been your daily FT news briefing. Check back tomorrow for the latest business news.

C (10:56)

Foreign.

E (11:03)

Thinking long term about your investment career. Hear stories, advice and lessons from seasoned leaders at Capital Group on the Capital Ideas podcast. Subscribe and start listening. Today, published by Capital Client Group Inc.

F (11:18)

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