Uniqlo CEO among Time’s 100
Chairman, president and CEO of Fast Retailing Tadashi Yanai is among the 2013 Time 100, the magazine's annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Yanai was the only retail and CPG company executive to make the list. Other notables with a connection to the retail industry included Samsung CEO Oh-Hyun Kwon, Paypal co-founder Elon Musk and fashion designer Michael Kors. The complete list will appear in the April 29 issue of Time, available now.
"I am pleased to have been named among this list of prestigious individuals, and wish to thank Time for having included me this year. Fast Retailing and Uniqlo aim to positively impact the lives of people everywhere and change our world for the better, through the clothing that we produce. We are serious about our commitment, and it requires substantial influence. I believe that Time's acknowledgement is a reflection that as a company we are moving in the right direction."
Time designed the list, now in its tenth year, to recognize the activism, innovation and achievement of who they determine are the world's most influential individuals.
Fast Retailing is a leading global Japanese retail holding company that designs, manufactures and sells clothing under seven main brands, including Comptoir des Cotonniers, GU, Helmut Lang, J Brand, Princesse tam.tam, Theory and Uniqlo. It is currently the world's fourth largest apparel retail company, with global sales of approximately $9.5 billion for the 2012 fiscal year ending Aug. 31, 2012.
Yanai started with a single Uniqlo store in Hiroshima in 1984. Today there are more than 1,200 stores across 13 markets worldwide, including Japan, mainland China, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, U.K. and U.S. Uniqlo has also just been named the exclusive, multi-year corporate sponsor of the Museum of Modern Art’s Friday night free admission program, beginning in May. The program provides free access to the museum and all exhibitions from 4 to 8 p.m., every Friday, throughout the year, a tremendous value considering the normal admission fee is $25.