Speaker introduction

Mickey (Hiroshi) Mikitani is the founder, chairman and CEO of Rakuten Group, Inc. Founded in Japan in 1997, Rakuten has grown to become one of the world's leading internet services companies.

With a dynamic ecosystem of more than 70 services, spanning e-commerce, fintech, digital content and communications, Rakuten brings the joy of discovery to more than 1.4 billion members worldwide. Rakuten also became Japan’s newest mobile network operator in 2019.

Mikitani was educated at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, began his career in investment banking, and earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. In 2012, he was awarded the HBS Alumni Achievement Award.

In 2011, he was appointed Chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and serves as Representative Director of the Japan Association of New Economy (JANE). In 2016, he was appointed Chairman and Director of the biotechnology company Rakuten Medical, Inc., also taking up the role of CEO in 2018.