Toshiaki Higashihara
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined the company in April 1977 and, starting in the transportation systems department of the Omika Works, went on to serve as President of Hitachi Power Europe and of Hitachi Plant Technologies. At the parent company he became Vice President and Executive Officer in April 2008 and Senior Vice President and Executive Officer in April 2013, and the following year became Representative Executive Officer, President and COO. He came from the front lines, having headed an overseas power company and a domestic plant company, and his time from joining the parent's executive officers to the presidency was a short six years.
Selection
In April 2014 he succeeded Hiroaki Nakanishi as Representative Executive Officer, President and COO, while Nakanishi became Chairman and CEO, a lineup that separated the president and CEO roles. In the fiscal year ended March 2014, the year before he took office, consolidated revenue on an IFRS-restated basis was ¥9,666.4 billion, income from continuing operations before taxes ¥678.4 billion and net income attributable to shareholders of the parent ¥413.8 billion; the recovery from losses was complete. He took over as CEO in April 2016 and alone bore decisions on divestitures and acquisitions.
Initiatives
Listed subsidiaries, which had numbered more than 20, were cut to four by the end of 2019 through successive sales of Hitachi Capital, Hitachi Koki, Hitachi Kokusai Electric and Clarion. On January 17, 2019, the company decided to freeze Horizon, its U.K. nuclear power project, booking a ¥300.0 billion loss in the fiscal year ended March 2019. The dispute with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries over coal-fired power in South Africa was settled on December 18, 2019, with Hitachi transferring its entire 35% stake and booking a settlement loss of ¥375.9 billion. In July 2020 it acquired 80.1% of the power grid business spun off from Switzerland's ABB for ¥722.0 billion.
Career
Career
Hitachi
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1977 | Joined |
| Apr 2008 | Managing Corporate Executive Officer |
| Apr 2013 | Senior Managing Corporate Executive Officer |
| Apr 2014 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, President and COO |
| Apr 2016 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, President and CEO |
| Jun 2021 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO |
| Jun 2021 | Stepped down as President |
| Apr 2022 | Chairman and Representative Corporate Executive Officer |