was a Japanese businessman and founder of

Ito-Yokado is a Japanese Hypermarket, general merchandise, shopping center, grocery store and department store originally founded in 1920. In 2005, it was reorganized, as part of a corporate restructuring, as a subsidiary of the Seven & I Holdings Co. ...

Early life and career

Itō was born in Tokyo on 30 April 1924. His parents, Senzo and Yuki Itō, operated a

dry goods Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and Common ...

shop named Yokado. After finishing high school, Itō had a short stint in the Japanese military and working at what would become

Mitsubishi Materials , or MMC, is a Japanese company. It is a manufacturer of cement products, copper and aluminum products, cemented carbide tools, and electronic materials. It is one of the core companies of Mitsubishi Group. The company is listed on the Tokyo St ...

before returning to work at his parents' shop. Following the death of his brother in 1956, Itō took over Yokado, which was then a clothing shop. He soon renamed the company

. Itō was the owner, founder and honorary chairman of the $30 billion (in sales) Ito-Yokado retailing group, the second largest retailing organization in the world, which includes more than 10,000

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

s in Japan and the US. Itō built the company from a small apparel store in Tokyo, into a corporation with annual revenues of more than $28 billion and a labour force of more than 125,000. The Ito-Yokado Group includes more than 10,000 7-Eleven stores in Japan and 5,800 in North America, along with 1,000 other stores, department stores, restaurants, specialty shops, supermarkets and superstores. Ito-Yokado was also the Japanese franchisee for

Oshman's Sporting Goods Oshman's Sporting Goods Inc. was a sporting goods retailer in the United States. Their headquarters were in East End, Houston, Texas.Robinson Robinson may refer to: People and names * Robinson (name) Fictional characters * Robinson Crusoe, the main character, and title of a novel by Daniel Defoe, published in 1719 Geography * Robinson projection, a map projection used since the 19 ...

department stores, and

Denny's Denny's (also known as Denny's Diner on some locations' signage) is an American table service diner-style restaurant chain. It operates over 1,400 Restaurant, restaurants in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and several other internationa ...

restaurants. The company has begun opening superstores in China. In 1992, Itō resigned as president of Ito-Yokado following allegations his staff made payments to the

yakuza , also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media (by request of the police) call them , while the yakuza call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ''yak ...

. Itō denied knowledge of the payments, though some of the money came from his wife's bank account, but nonetheless took responsibility for the payments.

Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management

Itō was a significant supporter of the

Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management The Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate School of Management, or more commonly, the Drucker School of Management, is the business school of Claremont Graduate University, which is a member of the Claremont Colleges. The school is named ...

, with an initial $3 million gift to help build the school's current home and a subsequent $20 million gift. His son, Junro, earned his

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the Drucker School in 1989 and was active in the Drucker alumni association in Japan.

Personal life and death

Itō was married and had three children. He died on 10 March 2023, at the age of 98.Seven & i Holdings Honorary Chairman Masatoshi Ito Dies
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ito, Masatoshi 1924 births 2023 deaths Businesspeople in retailing Japanese billionaires 20th-century Japanese businesspeople 21st-century Japanese businesspeople ja:イトーヨーカ堂#創業の歴史