Hiroshi Mikitani

Chairman of The Board

Hiroshi Mikitani is the founder of Rakuten, Inc. and is Chairman of the LinkShare board of directors. Mr. Mikitani has served as Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the board of Rakuten since the inception in 1997. Prior to founding Rakuten, Mr. Mikitani established a consulting business, Crimson Group in 1996. Prior to founding Crimson Group, Mr. Mikitani worked in mergers and acquisitions at the Industrial Bank of Japan from 1988 to 1996. Mr. Mikitani received his MBA from Harvard Business School and Bachelor of Commerce degree from Hitotsubashi University.