Question: How do you get to be on the Forbes list of the world's billionaires? You might inherit your wealth, take risks and get lucky, or work for it. For Soichiro Fukutake, owner of Berlitz's parent company Benesse, it's a case of "all the above."
For Benesse Corp. and its president, things are looking up: Net sales totaled ¥384 billion in fiscal 2007 (which ended March 31), an 8.4 percent increase over a year earlier; operating profits hit ¥34.9 billion, up 11.4 percent on fiscal 2006, according to the company's Web site, which boasts of "the fifth consecutive year of record-breaking performance for the company."
Benesse's "Language Company" sector — dominated by flagship Berlitz — was running a loss back in fiscal 2004, but profits have been increasing by about a couple of billion yen a year since then. The sector now accounts for some 16 percent of the parent company's total sales and 18 percent of its profits.