Takeo Sakabe
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He graduated from the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Law, Tokyo Imperial University in September 1943 and joined the company that same month. He served as general affairs manager at the Kansai plant from March 1970 and at headquarters from October 1971. He became a Director (general affairs manager) in February 1975 and a Managing Director in March 1979. Unlike his three predecessors, who were engineers from technical schools or accounting chiefs, his path ran through general affairs and personnel at plants and headquarters.
Selection
As of March 1979 there were five Senior Managing Directors, including Yoshiya Tomura, while Sakabe was a Managing Director. All five were born between 1913 and 1920, and Sakabe, born in 1921, was younger than that cohort. In March 1981 he succeeded Hideaki Yamashita as President. The appointment appears to have skipped a generation, installing someone who ranked behind the Senior Managing Directors.
Initiatives
His roughly six years in office were directed at higher-value materials. In 1985 the company founded AP Technoglass and that same year began producing synthetic quartz glass. Non-consolidated net sales rose from ¥471.8 billion in FY ended December 1980, before he took office, to ¥600.5 billion in FY ended December 1984, and net income from ¥23.2 billion to ¥26.8 billion. It was a period of giving shape, in electronic materials, to the diversification policy laid out under his predecessor.
Career
Career
Asahi Glass
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1943 | Joined |
| 1975 | Director, General Manager, General Affairs Department |
| 1980 | Senior Managing Director |
| Mar 1981 | President |
| Jan 1987 | Chairman |
| Jan 1987 | Stepped down as President |