Tadashi Yanai

Tadashi Yanai is the founder of Fast Retailing, the retail giant best known for its flagship brand, Uniqlo. Yanai grew Fast Retailing from a single men’s wear shop into one of the world’s largest apparel companies, with over 2,000 outlets globally. Yanai is also Japan’s richest person, thanks to his stake in Fast Retailing. He is credited throughout Japan’s business community as one of its most influential leaders, owing to Fast Retailing’s focus on innovation and flat organizational structure, as well as Yanai’s assertion that Uniqlo is a “technology company.” But like every business leader, Yanai is now grappling with Trump’s tariffs, warning that higher costs will inevitably lead to price hikes in the U.S.