Hiroshi Mikitani

Okay, this guy fascinates me. He walked away from a cushy elite banking career at a moment when most people would've clutched it for dear life, then bet the whole thing on the internet back when half of Japan still side-eyed the web as a fad. That takes a kind of nerve I genuinely admire. And the part I can't get over is him forcing English as Rakuten's official company language, where everyone basically said "you've lost it," and he just... did it anyway. That's stubbornness as a superpower. He's got the Harvard MBA brain, sure, but what gets me is he bought a baseball team AND a soccer club and actually went to bat for Kobe and Tohoku, so under all that contrarian logic there's this surprisingly warm, hometown-loyal heart. He's the most unconventional person in the room. I'm into it.

This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.

Hiroshi Mikitani (born March 11, 1965, in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture) is a Japanese entrepreneur and the founder, Chairman, and President of Rakuten Group. After graduating from Hitotsubashi University and earning an MBA from Harvard Business School, he left a career at the Industrial Bank of Japan to found the company in 1997, launching Rakuten Ichiba as one of Japan's first major e-commerce marketplaces. He expanded the Rakuten brand into professional sports — as owner of Vissel Kobe (soccer) and the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles (baseball) — and chairs the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also known for mandating English as Rakuten's internal corporate language.

Name (English)

Hiroshi Mikitani

Name (Japanese)

三木谷浩史

Reading

みきたに ひろし

Born

March 11, 1965 (age 61)

Origin

Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan

Height

181 cm

Occupation

Businessman / Entrepreneur

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Pisces / Snake

Agency

Rakuten Group, Inc. (Chairman and President)

Agency history

Industrial Bank of Japan (1988–1995)
Crimson Group (founded 1995)

Active years

1995–present

Elementary school

Akashi Municipal Matsugaoka Elementary School (transferred)

Junior high

Akashi Municipal Asagiri Junior High School (transferred from Okayama Hakuryo Junior High School)

High school

Hyogo Prefectural Akashi High School (graduated 1983)

University

Hitotsubashi University, Faculty of Commerce (graduated 1988) / Harvard Business School (MBA, completed 1993)

Debut

1997 — Founded M·D·M, Inc. (now Rakuten Group) and launched Rakuten Ichiba

Awards & achievements

• 2004 — Japan Innovator Award
• 2012 — Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award (youngest recipient at the time)
• 2014 — Chevalier of the Legion of Honor (France)
• 2019 — Best Dresser Award
• 2021 — Blue Ribbon Medal with Rosette and Cup (Japan)

Timeline

1. 1988Graduated from Hitotsubashi University; joined the Industrial Bank of Japan
2. 1993Earned MBA from Harvard Business School
3. 1995Left the Industrial Bank of Japan; founded Crimson Group
4. 1997Founded M·D·M, Inc. (now Rakuten Group) and opened Rakuten Ichiba
5. 2003Acquired Vissel Kobe; became team owner
6. 2012Became representative director of the Japan Association of New Economy

Spouse

Haruko Mikitani (married 1991)

Parents

Father: Ryoichi Mikitani (economist, Professor Emeritus at Kobe University)

Hobbies

• Tennis
• Karaoke

Specialties

• English (championed English as Rakuten's internal corporate language)
• Tennis (captained the university tennis club)

Filmography / notable works

• Official sitehttps://rakuten.co.jp
• Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/hiroshi.mikitani/
• Xhttps://x.com/hmikitani
• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E6%9C%A8%E8%B0%B7%E6%B5%A9%E5%8F%B2
• Wikidatahttps://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5366748

Tags

• Rakuten
• Businessman
• Entrepreneur
• Hyogo Prefecture
• Harvard MBA
• Rakuten Eagles
• Vissel Kobe
• Internet Business

Last updated

November 2, 2026

Only publicly available facts are listed; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. Base data was compiled from Wikidata from June 2026 onward; ages are recalculated daily and deaths are checked against Wikidata on an ongoing basis. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.