Hiroaki Nakanishi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined the company in April 1970 and accumulated overseas assignments, including serving as chief representative for Europe and North America. He became Vice President and Executive Officer in June 2003, Senior Vice President and Executive Officer in April 2004 and Executive Vice President and Executive Officer in April 2006. In the meantime he served as Chairman and CEO of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, the vehicle for the hard disk drive business bought from IBM of the U.S. for about $2 billion in January 2003, gaining experience in running a loss-making business the company had purchased.
Selection
In April 2010 he succeeded Takashi Kawamura as Representative Executive Officer and President. In the fiscal year ended March 2010, the year before he took office, consolidated net sales were ¥8,968.5 billion with a net loss of ¥106.9 billion, a second straight year in the red. Kawamura remained as Representative Executive Officer and Chairman. His background in overseas operations and struggling businesses appears to be why he was chosen to carry out the divestitures Kawamura had begun.
Initiatives
In March 2012 the company sold its hard disk drive business by transferring Viviti Technologies shares to Western Digital of the U.S., and that same month also let go of its small and medium-sized display business by transferring Hitachi Displays shares. The consolidated equity ratio recovered from 11.2% to 18.8%. In February 2014 it split off its thermal power generation systems business and transferred it to Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, a joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It also acted as a buyer, acquiring the U.K. nuclear developer Horizon Nuclear Power for about ¥90.0 billion in 2012.
Career
Career
Hitachi
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1970 | Joined |
| Jun 2003 | Managing Corporate Executive Officer |
| Apr 2004 | Senior Managing Corporate Executive Officer |
| Apr 2006 | Executive Deputy President |
| Apr 2010 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, President |
| Apr 2014 | Representative Corporate Executive Officer, Corporate Executive Officer, Chairman and CEO |
| Apr 2014 | Stepped down as President |
| Apr 2018 | Chairman and Representative Corporate Executive Officer |