Haruo Sato
Profile
Performance in office
Tenure
Tenure
Background
Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1898, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at Tokyo Imperial University in April 1924 and joined the South Manchuria Railway that same month. He left the company in March 1946 as Director-General of General Affairs. In June 1963 he became President of Maruzen Hodo, and the following year moved to Keikyu. He had served neither as a director nor as a managing director at Keikyu, and was brought in as President with no prior board experience there.
Selection
In May 1964 he became President, succeeding Saburosuke Suzuki, who had become President only that February and moved to Chairman. Suzuki was also Chairman of Ajinomoto, and his presidency at Keikyu ended after three months. In the fiscal year ended March 1964, the year before he took office, revenue was ¥8.8 billion and net income ¥0.5 billion. The appointment appears to have been a quick replacement with an outsider whose background lay outside railways, with no internal candidate put forward.
Initiatives
Revenue, ¥8.8 billion in the year before he took office, reached ¥17.5 billion in the fiscal year ended March 1969, the last year-end he saw as President. Net income also rose from ¥0.5 billion to ¥0.9 billion. Over his five and a half years in office revenue roughly doubled. After handing the presidency to Koichi Nakagawa in November 1969 he stayed on as Chairman, and he is listed as Representative Director and Chairman up to the 1974 edition of the Japan Company Directory.
Career
Career
South Manchuria Railway
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Apr 1924 | Joined |
| Mar 1946 | Left the company as Director-General, General Affairs Bureau |
Maruzen Road
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| Jun 1963 | President |
Keikyu
| Date | Position |
|---|---|
| May 1964 | President |