Background
Yanai was born in Ube, Yamaguchi in February 1949.
柳井 正ユニクロ
entrepreneur executive officer
Yanai was born in Ube, Yamaguchi in February 1949.
He attended Ube High School and later Waseda University, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor"s degree in Economics and Politics.
He is routinely ranked as one of the richest men in Japan, and in January 2014 was ranked 35th richest in the world according to Bloomberg, making him the richest man in Japan with an estimated Netto worth of United States$19.9 billion in 2009 and United States$17.6 billion in 2014. In 1971, Yanai started in business by selling kitchenware and men’s clothing at a Jusco supermarket. After a year at Jusco, he quit and joined his father’s roadside tailor shop.
Yanai opened his first Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984, and changed the name of his father’s company Ogori Shoji to Fast Retailing in 1991.
He has stated: "I might look successful but I"ve made many mistakes. People take their failures too seriously.
You have to be positive and believe you will find success next time." In March 2011, Yanai donated 1 billion yen to victims of the 2011 Sendai earthquake.