Suteji Kobe
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined Yasuda Bank in 1925 and, after serving as Senior Managing Director of Teikoku Piston Ring, was brought into Oki Electric as Managing Director in November 1945. He became Senior Managing Director in August 1947 and President in April 1949, just before the old company was dissolved. He had no experience in the communications equipment industry, but like his predecessor Yuzo Yanai he came from Yasuda Bank. As of August 1946 Yasuda Bank and Yasuda Hozensha held 31% of the old Oki Electric's shares outstanding.
Selection
On November 1, 1949, under a statutory reorganization plan based on the Enterprise Reconstruction and Reorganization Act, the old Oki Electric was dissolved and Oki Electric Industry was established with capital of ¥180 million as a second company taking over all its operations. Kobe had become President of the old company half a year earlier, in April 1949, and handled the dissolution and the founding of the new company himself. Shareholders and general creditors were asked to bear the old debts, and liquidation was not completed until three years later, in 1952. The role of consolidating Yasuda-affiliated capital and claims appears to have been assigned to a banker.
Initiatives
The company began mass-producing the Type 4 telephone in 1950 and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in November 1951. It opened the Takasaki works in November 1958, listed on the Osaka Securities Exchange in July 1961, and opened the Honjo works in May 1962. In 1961 it launched the transistorized computer OKITAC-5090 system and built a semiconductor plant in Hachioji, and in 1963 established Oki Univac as a joint venture with Sperry Rand of the US. Non-consolidated net sales grew from ¥2.8 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1952 to ¥31.4 billion in the FY ended March 1966.
Career
Career
Yasuda Bank
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1925 | Joined |
Teikoku Pisutonringu
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1944 | Senior Managing Director |
Oki Electric
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1945 | Managing Director |
| Aug 1947 | Senior Managing Director |
| Apr 1949 | President |
Oki Electric Industry
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Nov 1949 | President |
| Jan 1966 | Chairman |
| Jan 1966 | Stepped down as President |