Wednesday 10 July 2019

Japan – Tokyo Global Leadership Series 2019

Professor Tomonori (Tom) ItoProfessor, EMBA Program Director, Hitotsubashi ICS

Tomonori (Tom) Ito received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his BA from the University of Tokyo (Faculty of Economics).

Prior to joining ICS, Professor Ito spent 32 years in finance and investment banking. He worked for UBS as an investment banker, during which time he held the position of (co-)Head of Investment Banking for UBS in Japan. He maintains an extensive network of relationships, developed over the length of his career as an investment banker, incorporating a significant proportion of the senior management of major Japanese corporations. As a Managing Director in areas such as M&As, privatizations, IPOs, equity finance, debt finance, and structured financings, Professor Ito led personally many high-profile transactions. Before joining UBS in 1995, he worked for the Bank of Tokyo, during which he spent five years in New York City.

Professor Ito’s research interests include: (1) key determinants of successful and unsuccessful M&As in Japan; (2) optimal capital structure and changes in market environment; and (3) diversification and cost of capital. He has written a number of ICS business cases, including “Japan Tobacco: Domestic Giant Going Global (A) (B)”, “ORIX Corporation: Surviving the Financial Crisis (A)(B)”, and “Fujifilm and Kodak : Surviving the Digital Revolution (A) (B)”. Professor Ito has also authored a number of articles in the Hitotsubashi Business Review, including: “Cross-border M&A by Japanese Companies: 10 Lessons from Japan Tobacco’s Experience”, “Cross-border M&A and Management Strategy”, and “Is Optimal Capital Structure ‘Optimal’?”. Professor Ito actively provides consulting and executive training to a number of Japan’s leading companies. He also serves as an external board member to Parco Co., Ltd., Aozora Bank, Ltd, and Electric Power Development Co., Ltd. (J-Power).