Headquartered in Tokyo, Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd is one of Japan’s top petroleum products and petrochemical producers. The company was founded by Sazo Idemitsu in 1911. The business began as a distributor for oil giant Nippon Sekiyu but also developed its own sales channels in the business of machine lubricants.
Due to restrictions following the Second World War, the company was forced to diversify into other businesses such as radio repairs and sales, printing, agriculture, and soy sauce and vinegar production. By 1952, Idemitsu could once again fully engage their petroleum business and began importing high-octane gasoline from America. In the 70s, the company established a strategic partnerships with Middle-East oil producers to ensure a reliable supply of crude.
In the wake of significant growth through the 80s and 90s, financial difficulties forced the company’s president Akihiko Tembo – the first CEO outside the family – to enact reforms unpopular with the Idemitsu family and merge parts of the business with Mitsubishi Corporation. The well-known tensions between the founding family and Tembo’s management team threatened to upend the company’s high-profile merger with Showa Shell Sekiyu, Japan’s fifth-largest oil wholesaler in 2006.
Today, Akihiko Tembo continues as the company’s president with Akira Idemitsu as Chairman. Akira is the cousin of Shosuke Idemitsu, Sazo’s son and a former company president.
- Family name: Idemitsu family
- Sector: Energy – Oil & Gas
- Founded: 1911
- Founder: Sazo Idemitsu
- Country: Japan
- Company headquarters: Tokyo
- Managers: Shunichi Kito
- Revenue: US$38.6 billion
- Rankings: 398 [Fortune 500]
- Family ownership: 33,9%
- Employees: 8,829
- Website: http://www.idemitsu.com/
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