Nozomu Matsumoto
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
In January 1938 he founded Fukuin Shokai Denki Seisakusho in Otowa-cho, Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, and began making electrodynamic speakers. In an era dominated by magnetic speakers, he concentrated production on high-end dynamic speakers. In August 1941 he established Fukuin Denki Seisakusho Ltd. with capital of ¥72,500, and during the war continued speaker research even while material shortages forced him to make transformers for aviation radios. In May 1947 he established Fukuin Denki Co., Ltd., which absorbed the limited company, and became President of the joint-stock company.
Selection
Having founded the company himself and remained President through its reorganization from sole proprietorship to limited company and joint-stock company, he had no predecessor. Even on the 1972 board list his previous position was given as founder, and it was a family company with Seiya Matsumoto as Executive Vice President and Kanya Matsumoto as Managing Director. Around 1960, however, he began preparing for a stock listing to shed the family-company image and brought in management consultant Kiichi Yoshida from outside. The recruitment of outside talent began at the same time as listing preparations.
Initiatives
The company moved from supplying speaker components to making finished products in 1962, when it succeeded in developing a separate stereo ahead of its rivals. The year before, in June 1961, the company name had become Pioneer, and in October that year it listed its shares on the Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In 1964 it launched car stereos and telephone answering machines, and that same year moved its head office functions from Otowa to Omori. Overseas it opened sales bases in the US in March 1966 and Belgium in January 1970, and at home it listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in February 1968. In November 1971 he handed the presidency to Yozo Ishizuka, whom he had brought in as Managing Director in 1963, and withdrew to senior adviser.
Career
Career
Pioneer
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jan 1938 | President, Fukuin Shokai Electric Works (at founding) |
| May 1947 | Representative Director, President, Fukuin Electric (at founding) |
| Jun 1961 | Renamed Pioneer |
| Nov 1971 | Stepped down as President and Senior Advisor |
References 4
References (Japanese primary sources)
- パイオニア 有価証券報告書 第72期（2018年3月期）【沿革】
- 企業の歴史 : 明治百年（経済春秋社編, 1968）
- 日経ビジネス 1972年6月26日号「パイオニア。高度成長ささえる“混血”経営」
- 技術の向こうに感動がある（ポケット社史・パイオニア、1993年11月）