Tadashi Imai
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Nippon Steel Corporation in April 1988, came up through steelmaking and took part in restructuring. He became an Executive Officer in April 2016, Managing Executive Officer in April 2019 and Managing Director in June 2020, and was named Representative Director and Executive Vice President in April 2023. He has experience from R&D to the production floor, and as Managing Director also oversaw corporate planning. A career employee, he spent 36 years with the company before becoming President.
Selection
In April 2024 he succeeded Eiji Hashimoto as Representative Director, President and COO. Hashimoto stayed on as Representative Director, Chairman and CEO, separating the CEO and COO roles. In the fiscal year before he took over, ended March 2024, net sales were ¥8,868.0 billion, operating profit ¥778.7 billion and net income ¥549.3 billion, a recovery from an operating loss of ¥406.1 billion and a net loss of ¥431.5 billion in FY ended March 2020. With U.S. unions and local communities still to be won over for the U.S. Steel acquisition, the change appears to have put an engineer who knew the production floor in charge of execution.
Initiatives
The company made U.S. Steel a wholly owned subsidiary, gaining an integrated steelmaking base in North America. On taking office he named decarbonization as top management priority. FY ended March 2025 brought net sales of ¥8,695.5 billion, operating profit of ¥548.0 billion and net income of ¥350.2 billion, with operating profit down from ¥778.7 billion. The stock market rated the company poorly: a price-to-book ratio below 1 had become the norm, standing at about 0.5 at the end of May 2025. In June 2025, 3D Investment Partners, citing concerns about capital discipline, pointed to a conglomerate discount and recommended voting against Imai's reelection as a director.
Career
Career
Nippon Steel
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1988 | Joined Nippon Steel |
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 2016 | Executive Officer |
Japan Iron & Steel
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 2019 | Managing Executive Officer |
| Jun 2020 | Managing Director |
| Apr 2023 | Representative Director, Executive Vice President |
| Apr 2024 | Representative Director, President and COO |