Orix Corp. group CEO and board chairman Yoshihiko Miyauchi will step down from those posts in late June, a source close to the financial giant revealed Saturday.
Miyauchi, 78, will also leave the group's board, the source said. Makoto Inoue, 61, president and joint CEO since January, will become the sole occupant of that position, while the office of chairman will be left vacant.
Instrumental in growing Orix into a general financial firm and in promoting deregulatory steps by the government of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Miyauchi will continue to provide management advice to the company in the newly created position of senior chairman, the source said.
He will also remain owner of the Orix Buffaloes professional baseball team.
The company is expected to formalize the decision at a board meeting Thursday.
Miyauchi joined Orix, then Orient Leasing Co., in 1964, and rose to become president and CEO in 1980. Under his stewardship, Orix transitioned from a leasing company to a general financial business.
Miyauchi also served as chair of the Council for the Promotion of Regulatory Reform under Koizumi.