Shigenobu Nagamori plans to lead Nidec Corp. until he hits his latest financial target, a 10-fold increase in revenue he expects by 2030. He'll be 85 then.
One of Japan's rare mergers and acquisitions specialists, Nagamori became a billionaire by cobbling together 41 companies to form the world's biggest maker of precision motors used in hard disk drives, among myriad other products. Visitors to Nidec's headquarters in Kyoto can see the wooden shed, preserved in the lobby, where Nagamori started the company next to his mother's farmhouse in 1973.
"I'm joking when I say I'll keep going until I'm 120, but I plan to keep doing it at least until we hit the target," the 70-year-old said in an interview, dressed in a dark suit and his trademark DayGlo green necktie.