Tadashi Yanai

Background

Yanai was born in Ube, Yamaguchi in February 1949.

Education

He attended Ube High School and later Waseda University, graduating in 1971 with a Bachelor"s degree in Economics and Politics.

Career

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.

Achievements

• Yanai won the International Retailer of Year award for 2010 from the National Retail Federation in United States. He was the fourth Japanese national to win it, and the first since 1998, when it was won by Masatoshi Ito, owner and honorary chairman of the Ito Yokado retailing group. He was also chosen as best company president in a survey of Japanese corporate executives by Sanno Institute of Management in 2008 and 2009. In 2012 he was included in the 50 Most Influential list of Bloomberg Markets Magazine.

Works

More photos

• book

  • One win nine losses