Hiroshi Mikitani
Hiroshi Mikitani | |
---|---|
Rakuten, Inc. (1997-present) | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Spouse |
Haruko Mikitani (m. 1993) |
Children | 2 |
Website | Hiroshi Mikitani Twitter account Hiroshi Mikitani English Twitter account |
Hiroshi Mikitani (三木谷浩史, Mikitani Hiroshi) (born March 11, 1965) is a Japanese
Early life and education
Mikitani was born in 1965 and raised in
Mikitani attended Hitotsubashi University, graduating in 1988 with a degree in commerce.[1]
Career
Banking
Mikitani worked at the
Rakuten
In 1996, Mikitani began venturing into the high technology business and started looking at various business models, and decided to launch an online shopping mall.
In 2010, Mikitani changed Rakuten's focus, as the company began expanding outside Japan, with acquisitions of overseas e-commerce sites including Buy.com of the US (now
Beginning in March 2010, Mikitani implemented a plan that he calls "Englishnization", making English the primary language of Rakuten within two years.[11] While the plan was dismissed as "stupid" by Honda president Takanobu Ito in 2010, Mikitani believes that "English is not an advantage anymore – it is a requirement." He considers the Japanese company's fluency in English, with meetings and reporting done in English, to be a strong advantage for the company globally.[9] In 2011, Mikitani's Englishnization initiative was featured in a Harvard Business Review case study.
Mikitani has been president of Rakuten since its founding, and in 2001 he also became chairman. Among his other titles are Chairman of Rakuten Travel, Chairman of
Sports team ownership
In 1995, after an earthquake in Kobe caused significant damage so that the city could no longer maintain the Vissel Kobe football club, Mikitani was asked to take over operations of the team. He purchased the team later that year through his company Crimson Group.[2] In 2014 the team was acquired by Rakuten.[13]
In 2004, the Japanese Pacific League, amidst financial difficulties, dropped two teams, leading to a player strike. Mikitani was approached by league officials about putting together an expansion team in Sendai, which would be named the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Mikitani rebuilt, restored and renovated the stadium in Sendai, prior to the team's inaugural season in 2005. The Golden Eagles won the 2013 Japan Series, two years after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Sendai and the Tōhoku region.[2]
Kosmos Holding
In 2017, Mikitani partnered with his friend FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué to co-found Kosmos Holding. A holding company and investment group to invest in companies based in the sports, media, and entertainment industries. In 2018, Kosmos Holding acquired the Davis Cup[14] Tennis property, and Spanish Futbol Club FC Andorra.[15]
Keidanren
Mikitani had joined
On June 1, 2012, the Japanese Association of New Economy (JANE) was launched in Tokyo. It was a renaming of the "Japan e-business association", which had been established in February 2010 to open it to non-online businesses.
Philanthropy
On February 27, 2022, Mikitani announced ¥1 billion ($8.7 million) donation to the Ukrainian government to support it during the
Honors and awards
In 2012, Mikitani was awarded the
In 2014, Mikitani was awarded the rank of Chevalier of the
In 2017, Mikitani was awarded the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.[28] and the 2017 Spain-Japan Business Contribution Award by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.[29]
On 10 April 2024, Mikitani was among the guests invited to the
Bibliography
- Principles for Success (2007)
- 92 Golden Rules of Success
- Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting the Rules of Borderless Business (St. Martin's Press, 2013)
- The Power to Compete: An Economist and an Entrepreneur on Revitalizing Japan in the Global Economy (with Ryoichi Mikitani, John Wiley & Sons, 2014)
- Business-Do: The Way to Successful Leadership (John Wiley & Sons, 2018)
Personal life
Mikitani and his wife Haruko were married in 1993. They have two children.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Hiroshi Mikitani, MBA 1993," Harvard Business School Alumni, January 1, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Peter Gammons, "In Japan, Red Sox have a championship soul mate", Boston.com, December 9, 2013.
- ^ "『問題児 三木谷浩史の育ち方』|ひらめきブックレビュー ~気軽に味わう、必読書のエッセンス~". The Nikkei (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ "ファミリーヒストリー ファミリーヒストリー「三木谷浩史〜経営者の原点 戦国武将の魂〜」(ドキュメンタリー/教養)". The Television (in Japanese). Kadokawa. Retrieved 2022-05-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i David Rowan, "From Pinterest to Kobo, how Japan's Rakuten is building a global internet giant", Wired, August 22, 2012.
- ^ "Management Team | Rakuten, Inc". Global.rakuten.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "Mission Impossible: How Rakuten Billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani Plans To 'Beat Amazon'". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- New York Times, June 7, 2000.
- ^ Wall Street Journal, November 12, 2015.
- ^ Mike Isaac, "Hiroshi Mikitani, Rakuten Founder, Joins Lyft's Board", New York Times, June 23, 2015.
- ^ Marcus Wohlsen, "Japan's Answer to Jeff Bezos Sets Sights on Amazon, America", Wired, April 1, 2013.
- ^ History, Tokyo Philharmonic. Accessed August 11, 2017.
- ^ Jon Russell, "Rakuten Buys Japanese Soccer Team Vissel Kobe, Mirroring Recent Alibaba Move," TechCrunch, December 7, 2014.
- ^ "Davis Cup shake-up as ITF announces plans for World Cup-style tournament". The Independent. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
- ^ "Barça defender Gerard Piqué buys lowly FC Andorra". AS.com. December 12, 2018.
- ^ David Pilling (2012-06-15). "Hiroshi Mikitani". Ft.com. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ a b "New Japan v old Japan: Stepping out". The Economist. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ Bruce Einhorn (2012-05-18). "Pinterest Stake Fuels Rakuten's Quest to Be a Global Player - Bloomberg". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2012. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- Japan Times, July 2, 2011.
- ^ Yoree Koh, "It's Not Easy Being Antinuclear," Wall Street Journal, May 30, 2011.
- ^ Slodkowski, Antoni (2011-07-08). "Rakuten CEO mulls taking on powerful Keidanren lobby". Reuters. Archived from the original on February 1, 2013. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "White Parper on e-Business in Japan - Japan Association of New Economy". Jane.or.jp. Archived from the original on 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "About the association - Japan Association of New Economy". Jane.or.jp. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani donates ¥1 billion to Ukraine". The Japan Times. 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ Sravasti Dasgupta (2022-02-28). "Japanese billionaire donates 1 billion yen to Ukraine and calls Russian invasion 'challenge to democracy'". Independent. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ "Grand Bazaar". Time.com. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
- ^ "Rakuten chief gets Legion of Honor," Japan Times, February 18, 2014.
- ^ "Tweet" Twitter, November 26, 2017.
- ^ "Rakuten wins Spain Japan Business Contribution Award 2017" Japan Today, December 4, 2017.
- New York Times.