Shoichi Saba
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Tokyo in 1919, he graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Tokyo Imperial University in December 1941 and joined the company in January 1942. He served as General Manager of Power Engineering in the Electric Power Division and became Chief Electrical Engineer of that division in April 1968. He became a Director in May 1970, Managing Director in May 1972, Senior Managing Director in May 1974 and Director and Executive Vice President in June 1976, rising from Director to Executive Vice President in six years. He was an executive who built his career on the engineering side of heavy electrical machinery.
Selection
He became Director and Executive Vice President in June 1976 alongside Takeshi Hamano, and in the 1979 roster of executives is listed as the senior Executive Vice President after President Kazuo Iwata. The same roster lists Ryuji Imai, who had been President of Toshiba Shoji, and Tomio Tanatsugu, head of the Information Systems Equipment Division, as Executive Vice Presidents appointed in June 1979. Whereas his predecessor Iwata was an administrator who rose from General Manager of Finance, Saba was an engineer who rose from Chief Electrical Engineer of the Electric Power Division. Ordinary income in the fiscal year ended March 1979 was ¥36.2 billion, up from ¥24.0 billion the year before. The appointment appears to have handed the heavy-electrical earnings base to the engineering side.
Initiatives
During his tenure, non-consolidated net sales grew from ¥1,547.6 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1981 to ¥2,526.0 billion in FY ended March 1985, and ordinary income from ¥82.8 billion to ¥144.0 billion. In 1984 the company changed its name from Tokyo Shibaura Electric to Toshiba. In FY ended March 1985 the largest shareholder was Dai-ichi Life, General Electric, which had been first in FY ended March 1975, dropped to third, and the employee stock ownership association entered the top ten.
Career
Career
Toshiba
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1979 | President |
| 1985 | Stepped down as President |