A Mixed Bag

Fortunes fell for most of Japan’s richest, but a few bucked the trend.

- James Simms

It was a mixed year for Japan’s superrich. Despite a 5% uptick in the Nikkei index, 31 of the 50 list members have smaller fortunes than a year ago. Altogether the country’s 50 wealthiest are worth $178 billion, down from $186 billion a year ago.

Last year’s No. 1, Masayoshi Son, fell to second place despite gains in SoftBank stock that lifted his fortune by $2.1 billion to $24 billion. Son was outpaced by Tadashi Yanai, founder of Fast Retailing, parent of clothing chain Uniqlo, who moved back into the top spot for the first time since 2016. Yanai was the biggest gainer in dollar terms, adding $5.6 billion to his wealth since last year to $24.9 billion.

Son has made headlines for the big bets that his $100 billion SoftBank Vision Fund has been making. The Vision Fund has raised $45 billion from Saudi Arabia‘s Public Investment Fund, plus smaller amounts reportedly from Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala fund, Apple, Qualcomm and Oracle’s billionaire co-founder Larry Ellison, among others.

Another gainer this year was Takemitsu Takizaki, whose fortune rose $1 billion to $18.6 billion, making him the third richest on the list, up from No. 4 last year. His Tokyo-listed sensors firm, Keyence, has witnessed steady growth in China, where its sensors are used to monitor the performance of machines and robots in factories.

Nobutada Saji and family registered the biggest drop in net worth, falling $7.2 billion to an estimated $10.8 billion. Part of the decline resulted in new information clarifying that some of the Suntory stake previously attributed to the Saji family is owned by charitable entities and thus excluded from their net worth. The Saji fortune was further weighed down by weakness in global beer sales.

Four newcomers join the list.