Shinroku Morohashi
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
He joined the old Mitsubishi Corporation in 1947. The company was dissolved on November 30 of that year, and its roughly 4,100 employees, apart from those who stayed for liquidation work, scattered to more than 120 new companies. Shinroku Morohashi worked in the machinery export and ship departments, then served as General Manager of the Manila branch and General Manager of the London branch and Vice President of Mitsubishi Corporation Europe, before rising to Managing Director and Director and Executive Vice President.
Selection
In 1986 he succeeded Takeo Kondo as President. In May of that year, at the Brunei government's demand, Mitsubishi Corporation's stake in Brunei LNG fell to 25%, shrinking the interest whose $100 million in annual dividends had supported the company's results. The year before, the company had drawn up the long-term management plan "K-Plan." His long experience leading overseas bases appears to have been applied to the task of finding revenue sources to replace the resource interest.
Initiatives
The chemicals division's target, Aristech Chemical, was a mid-sized company with sales of $1 billion that had been spun off in 1986 from the chemicals division of U.S. Steel, the largest American steelmaker. In March 1990 the company acquired it for a total of $880 million, the first large acquisition by a Japanese company to use an LBO, raising funds secured on the acquired company's assets. Aristech took on $650 million in bank debt, and Mitsubishi Corporation held just over 80% of its shares. In 1992 he named Minoru Makihara as his successor, based not on sales results but on the makings to change the company with an international sensibility.
Career
Career
Mitsubishi Corporation
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| 1986 | President |
| 1992 | Stepped down as President |