Japan's billionaires and their growing businesses in India
Tadashi Yanai retains the top spot in the Forbes Japan Rich List 2024, which released today. His fashion company Uniqlo debuted in India in 2019 and has adopted a steady expansion strategy in the country
Tadashi Yanai, chairman of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, topped the list with a net worth of $38 billion.
Image: Yamaguchi Haruyoshi/Corbis via Getty Images
As per the Forbes Japan Rich List 2024 released today, the collective wealth of Japan’s top 50 richest people amounted to $200 billion. Tadashi Yanai, chairman of Uniqlo’s parent company, Fast Retailing, topped the list with a net worth of $38 billion. His net worth increased by $2.6 billion in the past year. Yanai is the founder and chairman of Fast Retailing, which owns several clothing brands, including Helmut Lang, Theory and J Brand, and GU. Uniqlo remains the company’s crown jewel, with its presence in 25 countries with about 2,500 stores.
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Uniqlo debuted in the Indian market in 2019. The brand has adopted a slow and steady expansion strategy in the country. Up till mid-2023, Uniqlo had only ten stores in India, all in the northern region. Today, it has a total of 13 stores in India, with two in financial capital Mumbai. The company’s revenue in India is witnessing a steady increase as its operations gain momentum. Uniqlo’s revenue in FY22 was Rs389 crore, which increased to Rs622 crore in FY23.
Masayoshi Son, the second richest person in Japan, has a net worth of $27 billion. Son is the founder and chairman of the investment giant SoftBank Group. The SoftBank Vision Fund is the largest technology-focused investment fund in the world. It has invested in over 300 hundred companies worldwide. The notable companies in the SoftBank Vision Fund portfolio include Nvidia, Uber, WeWork, ByteDance, Slack, and DiDi.
Masayoshi Son, Founder and chairman of the investment giant SoftBank Group
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SoftBank has invested in a large number of Indian startups over the years, almost one-fifth of Indian unicorns (startups with at least $1 billion valuation). It has invested in startups like Flipkart, Oyo, FirstCry, Lenscart, Ola, and Paytm. In February, the value of SoftBank’s investment portfolio in India amounted to about $14 billion.
