Kentaro Kawabe
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
After serving as Representative Director and President of Dennotai, he joined Yahoo Japan in August 2000. He also became Representative Director of GYAO in May 2009, then Executive Officer and COO in April 2012 and Executive Vice President and COO that July. In June 2014 he became Director, Executive Vice President and COO. He was a homegrown leader who spent 18 years inside the company and six as COO before becoming President.
Selection
He became CEO in April 2018 and, that June, Representative Director and President, succeeding Manabu Miyasaka. In the fiscal year before he took office, ended March 2018, consolidated revenue grew to ¥897.1 billion, while operating income was ¥185.8 billion, down for two straight years from ¥225.0 billion in FY ended March 2016. The challenge he inherited was how to reverse a trend of rising sales and shrinking profits.
Initiatives
In 2019 the company changed its name to Z Holdings and moved ahead with a business integration with LINE. The same year it acquired ZOZO and brought it under its umbrella. In the fiscal year ended March 2021, after the integration was completed, consolidated revenue was ¥1,205.8 billion with 22,531 employees, compared with ¥1,052.9 billion and 14,168 the year before. In FY ended March 2023, his final year, revenue was ¥1,672.3 billion and operating income ¥314.5 billion.
Career
Career
Dennotai
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Dec 1996 | Director |
| Sep 1999 | Representative Director, President |
LY Corporation
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Aug 2000 | Joined |
| Apr 2012 | Chief Operating Officer, Executive Officer |
| Jul 2012 | Executive Vice President, COO |
| Jun 2014 | Executive Vice President, COO |
| Apr 2018 | Chief Executive Officer |
| Jun 2018 | Representative Director, President, Executive Officer, CEO |
| Mar 2021 | Representative Director, President, Co-CEO |
| Apr 2023 | Representative Director, Chairman |
| Apr 2023 | Stepped down as President |
GYAO
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| May 2009 | Representative Director |
References 2
References (Japanese primary sources)
- ヤフー 有価証券報告書 第18期（2013年3月期）【役員の状況】
- LINEヤフー 有価証券報告書【役員の状況】