In today’s Bulldog wrapup of technology and life science news:

  • Softbank, Trump disclose $50 billion US investment plan
  • CEOs of AT&T, Time Warner to sell merger to skeptical Senate
  • Apple pays $450,000 for alleged hazardous waste violations
  • Pfizer fined for hiking epilepsy drug price 2,600 pct in UK 

The details:

  • Japan’s deal maker, Softbank tycoon Masayoshi Son

Japanese billionaire mogul Masayoshi Son, who met with President-elect Donald Trump and then announced plans to create 50,000 jobs and invest $50 billion in U.S. startups, has been one of Japan’s most aggressive overseas investors for over two decades. He’s getting an early start on deal-making with the future president.

A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Son founded Softbank in 1981 after selling a pocket translator he invented while still in college to Sharp Corp for $1 million. Softbank became Japan’s largest distributor of computer software and leading publisher of computer-related magazines and books, going public in 1994.

[VIDEO: Watch video of Trump’s announcement at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZA9Xqqc7tw ]

The Tokyo-based company is now one of Japan’s biggest telecoms providers, with more than 63,590 employees, a solar power business, humanoid robots for home use, ride-booking services and financial technology. It recently set up a $25 billion private fund for technology investments, along with Saudi Arabia and other investors, that Son says could grow to $100 billion. But Softbank has had its ups and downs over the years, occasionally having to retrench and sell off investments.

  • CEOs of AT&T, Time Warner to sell merger to skeptical Senate

The CEOs of AT&T and Time Warner are heading to Capitol Hill in a bid to convince senators that a merger of their two companies will mean innovative new experiences for consumers.

They can expect a skeptical audience.

The CEOs, Randall Stephenson of AT&T and Jeffrey Bewkes of Time Warner, are due to appear Wednesday before a Senate antitrust panel whose Republican chairman and senior Democrat have said the proposed $85.4 billion merger of the communications giants would potentially raise significant antitrust issues.

Other critics range from industry analysts and public-interest groups to President-elect Donald Trump, who promised on the campaign trail that he’d kill the deal because it concentrates too much “power in the hands of too few.”

Stephenson, however, said Tuesday he is confident the deal will be approved despite Trump’s public opposition.

The deal, which must win approval from federal regulators, would be one of the biggest media mergers to date. It would tie up the second-largest U.S. telecommunications company with a media and entertainment conglomerate whose stable includes CNN, HBO, the “Harry Potter” franchise and pro basketball. It’s a big-time bet on synergy between a company that distributes information and entertainment to consumers and one that produces it.

  • Apple pays $450,000 for alleged hazardous waste violations

Apple is paying $450,000 to settle allegations that the iPhone maker operated and closed two hazardous-waste processing plants without submitting the proper paperwork to California environmental regulators.

The agreement announced Tuesday involves a now-closed plant near Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters and another one in nearby Sunnyvale.

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control alleged Apple opened, ran and then closed the Cupertino plant without regulators’ knowledge. The plant processed about 1.1 million pounds of waste created by Apple’s devices during a two-year period before closing in 2013, when the operations were moved to Sunnyvale.

Regulators say Apple processed about 803,000 pounds of electronic waste in Sunnyvale before notifying the state about its activities there.

Apple described its conduct as “an oversight in paperwork” that didn’t affect its health and safety standards, which the company says are even more stringent than the law requires.

  • Pfizer fined for hiking epilepsy drug price 2,600 pct in UK

British regulators fined U.S. drugmaker Pfizer and distributor Flynn Pharma a record 89.4 million pounds ($112.7 million) Wednesday for increasing the cost of an epilepsy drug by as much as 2,600 percent.

Pfizer and Flynn Pharma charged “excessive and unfair prices” for the drug used by 48,000 people in Britain, the Competition and Markets Authority said. Pfizer was fined84.2 million pounds and Flynn Pharma 5.2 million pounds.

“This is the highest fine the CMA has imposed and it sends out a clear message to the sector that we are determined to crack down on such behavior and to protect customers, including the NHS, and taxpayers from being exploited,” Philip Marsden, chairman of the case decision group for the investigation, said in a statement.

The authority said the companies removed the official brand of Epanutin, Pfizer’s name for phenytoin sodium capsules, so they could increase the price. As a result, the National Health Service saw the bill for drug increase to 50 million pounds in 2013, from 2million pounds in 2012.