by Ekrem Duman | Jul 25, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, Trading Houses & Finance
⚡ TL;DRMitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is Japan’s largest bank and one of the biggest financial institutions in the world, best known internationally for a crisis-era investment in Morgan Stanley that helped stabilize Wall Street. This guide covers MUFG’s...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 24, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, Trading Houses & Finance
⚡ TL;DRItochu transformed from a textile merchant founded in 1858 into the trading house that broke ranks with its rivals by de-emphasizing resources and building consumer, food and retail businesses instead. This guide covers Itochu’s origins, its non-resource...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 24, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, Trading Houses & Finance
⚡ TL;DRThe sogo shosha, or general trading house, is a uniquely Japanese business model with no real equivalent anywhere else — part trader, part investor, part financier and part project developer. This guide explains how the five big trading houses work, why...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 24, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, SoftBank & Tech Investment
⚡ TL;DRWeWork’s collapse from a $47 billion valuation to a failed IPO and eventual bankruptcy is the defining cautionary tale of the late-2010s startup era. This guide covers what WeWork actually was, how SoftBank inflated it, why the IPO failed, the governance...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 24, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, SoftBank & Tech Investment
⚡ TL;DRSoftBank’s Alibaba investment is likely the most profitable venture bet in history, turning roughly $20 million into tens of billions. This guide covers how the investment happened, why it dominated SoftBank’s balance sheet for two decades, how Son...
by Ekrem Duman | Jul 24, 2026 | Japan Company Stories, SoftBank & Tech Investment
⚡ TL;DRARM designs the chip architecture inside virtually every smartphone on earth, licensing its designs rather than manufacturing chips. This guide explains the ARM licensing model, why SoftBank bought it for $32 billion, the failed Nvidia sale, the 2023 IPO and...
