Founder and President, GLOBIS Corporation & GLOBIS University

Founder and Managing Partner, GLOBIS Capital Partners

A Harvard MBA graduate and former Sumitomo Corporation employee, Mr. Yoshito Hori established GLOBIS Management School in 1992. GLOBIS gained University status from the Government of Japan in 2006, started a Full-time MBA program in English in 2012, and expanded to offer an Online MBA program in 2015. GLOBIS University is now the No.1 business school in Japan by student intake.

In addition to being a leader of business education in Japan, Mr. Hori founded the venture capital firm GLOBIS Capital Partners in 1996. The firm has since managed seven funds with over USD $2 billion.

Mr. Hori founded the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) Japan Chapter in 1995 and became the first EO board member from Asia in 1996. He has also served on the World Economic Forum’s New Asian Leaders Executive Committee and Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership, the Harvard Business School Alumni Board, the Global Advisory Council of the Wilson Center, the Nihon Ki-in board, the B.League board, the Japan Association of Corporate Executives board, and the Japan Venture Capital Association board. He has been featured on the cover of Forbes Japan and Forbes Asia as one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Japan.

In 2008, Mr. Hori launched the G1 Summit, which led to the foundation of the G1 Institute in 2013, for which he currently serves as president. The G1 Institute has become a leading community and think tank to realize a better Japan. To outline his vision toward this goal, the G1 Institute published 100 Actions.

Just three days after the Great Tohoku Earthquake in March 2011, he launched Project KIBOW to support the rebuilding of disaster-affected areas. This led to the formation of the KIBOW Foundation and KIBOW Impact Investment, which he leads as president.

Mr. Hori serves as an ambassador for his hometown of Mito City and Ibaraki Prefecture. In April 2016, he became the owner of the Ibaraki Robots professional basketball team. In November 2019, he purchased Ibaraki Broadcasting System, Ibaraki’s only prefecture-wide media company. In 2022, he produced LuckyFes, an annual music festival held in Mito.

Mr. Hori received his BS in engineering from Kyoto University and his MBA from Harvard Business School. He has authored several books, including Visionary Leaders Who Create and Innovate Societies, Six Dimensions of Life, and My Personal Mission Statement. He is an avid swimmer and enjoys spending time with his wife and five sons.