was a Japanese businessman and investor. He was the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

of the Nomura Group zaibatsu who formed

Nomura Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc. (NHI), which forms part of the Nomura Group. It plays a central role in the securities business, the Group's core business. Nomura is a financial services group and global investment bank. Bas ...

in 1925.The House of Nomura, ''Al Alletzhauser'', Bloomsbury Publishing Limited () In 1928, he was appointed to the House of Peers in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Early life and education

He was born in present-day Yao,

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. He was known in childhood as ''Shinnosuke''.

Business career

First fortune

Shinnosuke made his first fortune in 1915, investing in

Fukushima Boseki may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan ***Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

, a textile company that was widely believed to be headed for bankruptcy. Shinnosuke knew better: He was a friend of the firm's founder Yutaro Yasuhiro. One day, after a hefty sell-off of the firm's shares, Shinnosuke moved quickly, pestering the management to show him their books. The firm showed bulging order books, the factory was running at full capacity, and the profits had never been better. After seeing the books, he went to the floor of the

Osaka exchange , renamed from , is the largest derivatives exchange in Japan, in terms of amount of business handled. , the Osaka Securities Exchange had 477 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of $212 billion. The Nikkei 225 Futures, intro ...

and began quietly buying Fukushima Boseki's shares at 20 yen. He kept buying until the price rose to 30

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

. A number of traders had sold the stock short and began to panic. Shinnosuke had bought up most of the available shares. Thus the panic began to drive up the price. Nomura sat back and watched the price rise continually from 35, then 40, 45, and 50. By the end of 1915 the shares had risen to 100 yen, quintupling Nomura's investment.

Nomura

He formed

in 1925. In 1928, he was appointed to the House of Peers in

Early life and education

Business career

First fortune

Nomura

References

Further reading