Yasuyoshi Karasawa: MS&AD Insurance President & CEO

Rising through the ranks, Yasuyoshi Karasawa leads a multibillion company which has undergone a number of mergers. To be able to reach the top post of a merged company demonstrates  his top-level leadership and managerial capabilities. 

Yasuyoshi Karasawa joined The Sumitomo Marine and Fire Insurance Co., Ltd in April 1975. He became Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Planning Department of Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co., Ltd (“MSI”) in April 2004. The following year in June 2005 he was  Director, Executive Officer, General Manager of Corporate Planning at MSI. 

In April 2006, Yasuyoshi was Director, Managing Executive Officer at MSI. He was Director, Senior Executive Officer of MSI and Director of what is now MS&AD Insurance, in April 2008.  Yasuyoshi became Director, Senior Executive Officer of MS&AD Insurance in April 2009. 

In April 2010 he was appointed President and CEO of MSI (a position he still holds) and Director, Executive Officer of MS&AD Insurance. Then on June 2014, Yasuyoshi became the President, Director and CEO of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. 

He has been focused and involved in the medium-term management plans of the group such as the “New Frontier 2013” launched in 2010 which among other things dealt with achieving sustainable growth through improvement in quality and pursuing group synergies that capitalize on the collective strength of the Group. in 2014 the Group began implementing  a new medium term management plan called “Next Challenge 2017”, with the objective of achieving further growth based on the sound foundation that they had built to date. 

Yasuyoshi has managed to rise and lead a company that has been a product of a number of mergers. MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings is the insurance holding company of the new Group formed in April 2010 through the merger of Aioi Insurance Co., Ltd, Nissay Dowa General Insurance Co., Ltd, and Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Group.

MS&AD has around 37,000 employees and generates sales in excess of $44 billion dollars and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. 

Masaaki Tsuya-San: Bridgestone Chairman & CEO

Masaaki Tsuya-San earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hitotsubashi University in Japan and holds an MBA in International Business from the University of Chicago.

After having assumed various positions of increasing importance in the company, Masaaki was named Chief Executive Officer of Bridgestone in March 2012. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Among the positions he has held prior to becoming CEO include as Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Human Rights Officer, Chief Risk-Management Officer, Vice President and Senior Officer of Bridgestone Corp. He has been Director of Division of International Relations & Licenses of Bridgestone Corporation Co., Ltd., since July 2004. Masaaki served as Director of Internal Auditing Office, Office of Group Chief Executive Officer and Vice President of Bridgestone Corp.

Bridgestone Corporation is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan and generates annual sales of more than $34 billion. It has approximately 144,632 employees.  The firm engages in the manufacture and sales of tires and rubber products. Its businesses are carried out through the Tires and Diversified Products segments. The company was founded by Shojiro Ishibashi on March 1, 1931. 

Daniel Zhang: Alibaba Group CEO

Daniel Zhang is a member of the Chinese Institute of Certified Accountants. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

For seven years he worked at Arthur Anderson’s Shanghai office. Then Daniel joined the Audit and Business Advisory Division of PricewaterhouseCoopers based in Shanghai holding the position of Senior Manager from 2002 until 2005.  He then moved over to NASDAQ-listed online game developer and operator, Shanda Interactive Limited and was the Chief Financial Officer from 2005 until 2007. 

Daniel joined the Alibaba Group and served as the Chief Financial Officer of Taobao from August 2007 to June 2011. Then became the President of Tmall.com starting June 2011 and served as its General Manager for three years. He was appointed Senior Vice President of Alibaba Group from January 2013 until September 2013. He then became the Chief Operating Officer of Alibaba Group Holding from September 2013 until May 10, 2015. 

As Chief Operating Officer Daniel led the operations of all Alibaba Group businesses in China and globally. He oversaw the firm’s ongoing transition to mobile; built China Smart Logistics, Alibaba Group’s Comprehensive global logistics network; and launched Tmall Global, Alibaba Group’s platform that enables Chinese consumers to buy international branded products from all over the world. As part of the transition to mobile, Taobao’s mobile app has become the world’s largest mobile shopping platform. Daniel also led several of Alibaba Group’s strategic investments, including Alibaba Health, Haier, Intime Retail and Singapore Post. 

With this kind of talent, drive and accomplishments Daniel’s star has shone bright and hard not to notice. The top brass at Alibaba have certainly noticed him and he was given the top post of Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Group in May 2015. Daniel serves on Alibaba Group’s board of directors and is a founding member of the Alibaba Partnership. 

He is chairman of Intime Retail and serves on several other boards of Alibaba-related companies. 

Piyush Gupta: DBS Group CEO

Piyush Gupta earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, India. He went on to earn an MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad. 

In 1982, Piyus started his career with Citibank in India. Over the years he held various senior management roles across Citi’s corporate and consumer banking businesses, including Head of Strategic Planning for Emerging Markets and Regional Director for Global Transaction Services for Asia Pacific. Piyus also served as Citi’s County Officer for Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore respectively. 

Before joining DBS, Piyush was  Chief Executive Officer for South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand for Citigroup. He now is the Chief Executive Officer and Director of DBS Group, as well as Director of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited and The Islamic Bank of Asia Limited. 

DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia, with assets of around $350 billion, and with more than 280 branches across 18 markets. DBS is listed and headquartered in Singapore and is a market leader in Singapore with more than 4 million customers and also has a growing presence in Greater China, Southeast Asian and South Asia.  

Thomas P. Joyce: Danaher President & CEO

Born and raised on the north shore of Chicago, Thomas P. Joyce Jr., also known as Tom, went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1982.  

Tom was a management consultant at Andersen Consult. While there he worked with a large number of manufacturing businesses to implement lean tools and optimize transactional processes. In 1989, he then joined Danaher as a Project Manager in the Danaher Tool Group. Tom became President of Delta Consolidated Industries in 1995. After this role, he was named President of Hach Company, the world leader in analytical instrumentation for drinking water and wastewater application in 2001. 

Tom became a Group Executive and Corporate Officer with Danaher Corporation. In 2006, he was appointed Executive Vice President. He was responsible for the company’s Water Quality platform and Life Sciences & Diagnostic segment. Tom, in this role, increased Danaher’s Quality revenue by over $1.5 billion and led the company’s major acquisitions of Beckman Coulter and AB SCIEX. Throughout his tenure, Tom has also played a key role in developing and evolving the Danaher Business System, the company’s common operating philosophy. 

In September 2014, Tom was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Danaher Corporation.

Danaher Corporation began as DMG, Inc. as a real estate investment trust in 1969.  DMG changed its name to Diversified Mortgage Investors, Inc. in 1978 and then adopted the name Danaher in 1984. 

Danaher in the early 1990s composed of a group of discrete, cyclical businesses. Since then the company’s portfolio has transformed to become a more global, higher growth, more scientific and technological set of businesses. Today, Danaher is a global science and technology innovator committed to helping customers solve complex challenges and improving quality of life around the world. It has a globally diverse team of 66,000 associates. In 2014, the company generated $19.1 billion in revenue from five reporting segments: Environmental, Text & Measurement, Dental, Life Sciences & Diagnostics, and Industrial Technologies. 

Koji Nagai: Nomura Holdings Group CEO

Koji Nagai was born circa 1953. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Law from Chuo University in 1981, he joined Nomura. Koji is a company man having spent his entire career at Nomura. 

During his career he built a strong reputation in sales both in the retail and institutional divisions. Koji rose through the ranks and eventually reached the position of COO and Deputy President of Nomura Securities, the domestic securities trading and investment banking unit of Nomura Holdings. 

Koji was promoted to President of Nomura Securities in April 2012, as part of a restructuring of Nomura Holdings with the purpose of reducing the CEO’s domestic role. He was still getting used to and familiarizing  himself with his new position when he was appointed Group CEO of Nomura Holdings in August 2012. His predecessor was forced to resign due to an insider’s trading scandal which was significant enough to rattle the Japanese financial industry. 

Koji’s appointment was a part of a huge shake up and change in direction within the Nomura leadership. 

John C. Lechleiter: Eli Lilly and Company CEO

John C. Lechleiter was born to John and Jeanne Lechleiter on August 17, 1952, in Louisville, Kentucky and is the eldest of nine children.  In 1974, John first took part in laboratory research in a summer research program at the University of Minnesota. 

He earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Xavier University (Cincinnati, Ohio) in 1975. John was awarded a National Science Foundation fellow and studied Organic Chemistry at Harvard University. He obtained his Master’s degree and PhD in 1980.

In 1979 he joined Lilly as a senior organic chemist in process research and development and in 1982 became head of that department.  John began serving as director of pharmaceutical product development for the Lilly Research Centre Limited in Windlesham, England in 1984. He later held positions in project management, regulatory affairs, product development, and pharma operation. John was appointed president and chief operating officer and joined the board of directors in 2005.

Since April 1, 2008, John has served as president and chief executive officer at Eli Lilly and Company. He was elected chairman of the board of directors in January 1, 2009. 

John is a member of the American Chemical Society and Business Roundtable. He serves on the board of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), as chairman of the US-Japan Business Council and of United Way Worldwide, and on the boards of the Life Science Foundation and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership. John also serves on the boards of Nike, Inc. and Ford Motor Company.

He has received Honorary Doctorates from Marian University in 2006, the University of Indianapolis in 2012, and the National University of Ireland also in 2012.  John was bestowed the inaugural Global Health Partner Award from Project HOPE in 2012. He was named in 2014, the August M. Watanabe Life Science Champion of the Year for his work in supporting the development of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute. 

Charles Scharf: Visa CEO

Charles “Charlie” Scharf earned a BA degree from John Hopkins University and an MBA from New York University.  He started his career in the late 1980s at Commercial Credit. Charlie held various financial roles with Travelers from 1987 to 1995. He served as the Chief Financial Officer of Smith Barney (now Citigroup Global Markets Holding Inc.) from 1995 to 1997. Charlie then served as Chief Financial Officer of Salomon Smith Barney Inc. from 1997 to 1999. Then he served as Chief Financial Officer of the Corporate and Investment Bank Group of Citigroup from 1999 to 2000.

Charlie served as Chief Financial Officer/Executive Vice President of Banc One Corporation from June 12, 2000, until 2002. Then he was Chief Executive Officer of Retail Banking from May 2002 to July 2004 and also served as its President of Retail Banking. 

He was the CEO of Retail Financial Services of JPMorgan Chase & Co. from July 2004 until June 2011. In November 1, 2013, Charlie became the Chief Executive Officer of Visa Inc. He is also a member of the Board of Directors at Microsoft.