Yoshizo Ikeda
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Yoshizo Ikeda became President of Mitsui & Co. in 1972. Starting with its participation in Australia's Moura coal mine in January 1963, Mitsui & Co. had built up raw material interests, including the Robe River iron ore mine in February 1965 and a long-term iron ore contract for Mount Newman in October 1966. He can be seen as the President entrusted with the next stage of the resource business, right after the company shifted from deals that secured buyers to deals that held stakes in mines.
Selection
In 1972 he succeeded Sueyuki Wakasugi as President. In the fiscal year ended March 1972, the year before he took office, revenue was ¥4,123.5 billion, ordinary income ¥24.4 billion and net income ¥6.8 billion, with net income down from ¥7.3 billion the previous year. Revenue had doubled in four years from ¥2,080.2 billion in the FY ended March 1968, and he took over a company whose growth in scale was not matched by profit.
Initiatives
As the economy shifted to low growth in the 1970s, the growth of general trading companies' transaction volumes slowed to roughly that of gross national product. Mitsui & Co. handled machinery used in oil development and expanded into crude oil, where it had previously been thin. From its position as a trading company able to choose buyers in the international market, it also engaged in third-country trade, selling oil it had developed to other countries. In the Iran petrochemical project, the Lorestan concession did not yield enough crude, and a plan that began with both oil production and petrochemicals was left with petrochemicals alone, with Mitsui & Co. taking on responsibility for construction. In November 1976 the company moved its head office to Otemachi, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo.
Career
Career
Mitsui &
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1972 | President |
| 1978 | Stepped down as President |