Messages from
the Co-CEOs

Building a Robust Business Base to Support Sustainable Growth

Since the creation of the new Z Holdings through the business integration with LINE Corporation (“LINE”) in March 2021, I have focused all of my energies as Co-CEO toward the realization of a successful PMI process in our various business areas. I have made the reinforcement of our data governance a particular priority. The direct trigger for this emphasis was the data management issue at LINE. However, the main reason is the need for digital platform companies to maintain robust and dynamic governance structures. That need is greater than ever because of a global trend toward reinforced protection of personal data, and an increasing focus on economic security. In addition to our initiatives to strengthen data protection through technical measures, we have also introduced three lines of defense based on the “Three-Line Model” and built horizontal and vertical governance systems from the users' perspective. The entire Z Holdings Group will continue to enhance data governance as the foundation for global expansion. 

In March 2022, we clarified our strategic direction as a Group by revising our materialities.  I see this as an extremely important step toward the creation of a robust business infrastructure. The integration of LINE, a company with major global and social influence, has heightened both the importance of our social mission and society’s expectations toward us. Based on this perception, we reviewed our existing materiality structure from a broader perspective and created a new structure consisting of six materialities, together with initiatives to address each issue, and indicators to evaluate our progress. I think sincere efforts to address each of these issues are a prerequisite for the sustainable growth of the Z Holdings Group.

Stakeholders who want us to take a bolder approach may see these measures, such as the reinforcement of data governance and the revision of our materialities, as somewhat lacking in impact. However, I am confident that the time we have spent identifying key management priorities and enhancing data governance as the foundation for sustainable growth will be highly significant as dynamic initiatives unfold in the future.

Of course, our PMI efforts over the past 18 months also include proactive aspects, such as the steady generation of synergies through closer collaboration among Yahoo! JAPAN Mart by ASKUL,  LINE GIFT, Yahoo! JAPAN, and ZOZO, and the linkage of LINE Official Accounts to stores of Yahoo! JAPAN Shopping. The PMI process has only just begun. Going forward, we will decisively shift gears from "defense" to "offense" mode and actively pursue growth strategies.

Cross-Segment Linkage of Powerful Assets

When I first became President of Yahoo Japan in 2018, the company was strong in some areas, such as the Media Business, but still fell short of fulfilling its role as a comprehensive Internet company in other respects. For example, we had no major services in the area of social media. I decided that my personal mission in that situation should be to enhance our strengths and address each deficiency in turn through a variety of M&A and business integration initiatives. Over a four-year period, these efforts further strengthened our Media Business while offsetting deficiencies in the e-commerce areas through initiatives that included the acquisition of ZOZO, Inc. I also saw the mobile payment business as an essential asset for the future and worked with SoftBank Corp. (“SoftBank”) to build the "PayPay" business into Japan’s biggest provider in this area. The business integration with LINE in 2021 added a powerful social media asset to the Group, creating an unparalleled corporate group with top-class assets in many areas, including media, e-commerce, social media, finance, and payment services, in both Japan and Asia.

Our basic policy as we shift to a more dynamic PMI approach will be to link our powerful Group assets seamlessly in order to create unique user experiences that only the Z Holdings Group can provide. We want users to acknowledge the Z Holdings Group as a source of enhanced convenience, value, and efficiency, and recognize our significance in various situations in their lives.

The first step is to optimize linkage among the various services provided by the Z Holdings Group. As I stated above, we have already achieved coordination in some areas and some synergies. However, a key factor from here on will be the linkage of user IDs for LINE, Yahoo! JAPAN, and PayPay, each of which has one of the biggest user bases in Japan. Plans are underway to progressively introduce ID linkage, starting in or after 2023. This is expected not only to enhance the user experiences provided by each of our businesses, but also to maximize Group-level synergies and revenues through collaboration among all of the Z Holdings Group’s business areas, which have one of the biggest user bases in Japan.

Attracting Talented People through the Appeal of Our Business

Human capital  is our greatest asset. We need talented engineers, especially those with AI skills, to drive our future growth, and we regard the recruitment of such people as one of our top management priorities. Competition in the labor market continues to intensify because of active recruitment by companies in the IT sector and across all industries pursuing digital transformation (DX). Many companies are trying to attract talent by enhancing salaries, bonuses, and other compensation packages. In addition to offering the best possible conditions, we also aim to provide attractive working environments.

A key advantage for us is the appeal of the work itself. The Z Holdings Group provides diverse values to a wide spectrum of users in Japan and Asia and engineers have the opportunity to grow by taking on various technological challenges in such an environment. There are also opportunities to see the technologies you have developed making a major impact on the society. By bringing this information to the fore, we hope that talented engineers with advanced technical skills will step forward to explore their potential in the Z Holdings Group.

We are also enhancing our appeal to potential employees by offering flexible workstyles. Yahoo Japan has already introduced a full remote working system  and is developing environments to accommodate a wide range of workstyles. I believe that these system innovations have played a significant role in the rise in the number applications to Yahoo Japan's mid-career recruitment, which in the past year was around 60% higher than in the previous year. The Z Holdings Group promotes health and productivity management  so that the recruited employees will maintain optimal physical and mental health.

We also expect the development of remote working environments to contribute to the globalization of our workforce. We plan to step up our recruitment activities around the world, to include not only Japan but also South Korea and other parts of Asia, as well as Silicon Valley. Within Japan, I hope that talented people living in various regions will also be able to participate in our business operations, in addition to people living in and around major cities.

Our Social Mission to Empower Users

My impression of people working in the Internet industry is that most are motivated by a desire to contribute to society. My own decision to work in this sector was also inspired by that aspiration. One reason for that is the potential of Internet technology to transform society rapidly on a global scale.

I reaffirmed the social significance of the Internet industry around 2005, when I concurrently served as Yahoo Japan’s mobile services producer and social engagement activities  producer. I reacknowledged the Internet’s mission as a social infrastructure through various new initiatives, such as the dissemination of information about typhoons, earthquakes, and other emergencies on all Yahoo! JAPAN pages, the use of the Internet to raise funds for victims of the tsunami disaster in Indonesia, and the initiation of a carbon footprint offsetting service through which individuals could purchase carbon credits. These efforts also convinced me that companies could improve their corporate value by addressing social issues. As a result, I felt a real sense of motivation toward my work because of its potential to contribute to society while helping to improve the value of the company.

After becoming President of Yahoo Japan, I continued to place importance on addressing various social issues, such as those encapsulated in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs ). Today all companies are working together toward the creation of a sustainable society, and in that context I am determined to strengthen Z Holdings Group’s commitment to sustainable activities.

The Internet is a technology that can empower individual users. I myself have been empowered by the Internet. Just as the healthcare sector has a fundamental mission to save lives and improve health, the fundamental mission of the Internet industry should be to empower users and that is my management philosophy. The same commitment is contained in our corporate mission: “unleashing the infinite potential of all people, with the power of information technology.”

We will continue utilizing our diverse user contact points to also involve users in our expanding efforts to drive positive transformations in society. Our aim is to empower and maximize the potential of every individual user.