Hiroshi Mikitani
Hiroshi Mikitani | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 11, 1965 Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, author |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Known for | Founder and CEO of Rakuten, Inc. |
(born March 11, 1965) is a Japanese billionaire entrepreneur and author. He established and currently leads Rakuten, Inc. as its CEO. Additionally, he holds the position of president at Crimson Group, chairs the Vissel Kobe football club, presides over the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and serves on the board of directors for Lyft.
Early life and education
Mikitani was born in 1965 and grew up in Kobe, located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. His father, Ryōichi Mikitani, was a professor at Kobe University and chaired the Japan Society of Monetary Economics. His mother, Setsuko, an alumna of Kobe University, was employed by a trading company and attended elementary school in New York. Through his paternal grandmother, Mikitani traces his lineage to Honda Tadakatsu, one of the Four Heavenly Kings under shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. His grandmother hailed from a noble lineage and raised his father alone while managing a tobacco shop. His grandfather was a businessman based in New York and co-founded Minolta. Ryōichi was Japan’s inaugural Fulbright Scholar to the United States and taught at Yale University; during this period, the family resided in New Haven between 1972 and 1974. Mikitani’s sister Ikuko is a medical doctor, while his brother Kenichi serves as a biology professor at the University of Tokyo.
In 1988, Mikitani earned a commerce degree from Hitotsubashi University.
Banking
Between 1988 and 1996, Mikitani was employed at the Industrial Bank of Japan (now integrated into Mizuho Corporate Bank), taking a hiatus from 1991 to 1993 to attend Harvard Business School. He departed from banking to establish Crimson Group, a consulting enterprise. The devastation caused by the 1995 Kobe earthquake motivated him to contribute to Japan’s economic recovery, leading him to leave his banking career in favor of entrepreneurship.
Rakuten
Entering the technology sector in 1996, Mikitani decided to create an online marketplace. On February 7, 1997, he founded MDM, Inc. alongside three partners with an initial investment of $250,000 from their own funds. Rakuten Ichiba launched in Japan on May 1, 1997. The company adopted the name Rakuten, Inc. in 1999 and went public on JASDAQ in 2000. Mikitani envisioned Rakuten as a blend between eBay and Amazon.com; starting with just thirteen shops and six employees, it expanded into a leading e-commerce platform.
Starting in 2010, Mikitani directed Rakuten’s efforts toward international growth through acquisitions such as Buy.com (United States), PriceMinister (France), Kobo (Canada), Ebates (United States), Viber (Cyprus), along with minority investments in Pinterest and Lyft—where he also holds a board seat. Rakuten has diversified into sectors including travel services, e-books, credit cards, online retailing, banking operations, and owns the Rakuten Golden Eagles baseball team. By 2017, the company had over 14,000 employees generating nearly $6 billion in revenue with more than 100 million members across Japan.
In March 2010, Mikitani introduced "Englishnization," mandating English as Rakuten’s official language within two years. Despite initial doubts expressed by industry figures such as Honda president Takanobu Ito, Mikitani considers English proficiency critical for competing globally. This policy was examined in a Harvard Business Review case study.
Since founding Rakuten, Mikitani has served as its president and has been chairman since 2001. His leadership roles extend to Chairman of Rakuten Travel and Vissel Kobe football club; Director of PriceMinister; Chairman of Rakuten Kobo; and proprietor of Rakuten Baseball. In 2011, he assumed chairmanship of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Ownership of Sports Teams
After the 1995 Kobe earthquake disrupted the city's capacity to support the Vissel Kobe football club, Mikitani was approached to oversee the team and eventually acquired it through his Crimson Group. Rakuten later took ownership of the club in 2014.
During 2004, when Japan's Pacific League faced financial difficulties, Mikitani was invited to create an expansion baseball franchise in Sendai, which became the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles. Prior to their inaugural season in 2005, he funded upgrades to the Sendai stadium. The Golden Eagles secured victory in the 2013 Japan Series, a notable accomplishment following the devastation caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in the area.
Kosmos Holding
In 2017, Mikitani partnered with FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Piqué to establish Kosmos Holding, an investment firm concentrating on sports, media, and entertainment sectors. In 2018, Kosmos acquired both the Davis Cup tennis competition and Spain’s FC Andorra football club.
Keidanren
Mikitani became a member of Japan’s business federation Keidanren in 2004 but resigned in June 2011 after the Fukushima nuclear incident. He openly opposed Keidanren’s endorsement of nuclear power and its reluctance to implement reforms necessary for enhancing Japan’s international competitiveness. Following this, he contemplated founding an alternative business organization.
The Japanese Association of New Economy (JANE) was founded on June 1, 2012, as a broader successor to the Japan e-business association. Mikitani serves as JANE’s Representative Director, advocating for innovation and economic reform throughout Japan.
Philanthropy
On February 27, 2022, Mikitani contributed ¥1 billion (approximately $8.7 million) to Ukraine’s government as support amid the Russian invasion.
Honors and Awards
In 2012, Mikitani was honored with the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award—among the institution’s most prestigious awards—and appointed to Prime Minister Shinzō Abe’s Industrial Competitiveness Council.
The French government bestowed upon him the title of Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour in 2014.
He received both the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Spain-Japan Business Contribution Award from the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in 2017.
On April 10, 2024, Mikitani attended a state dinner at the White House, hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden in honor of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
- 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 (co-authored with Ryoichi Mikitani, John Wiley & Sons, 2014)
- Business-Do: The Way to Successful Leadership (John Wiley & Sons, 2018)
Personal Life
Mikitani wed Haruko in 1993; together they have two children.