#58 Fujio Mitarai
Chairman
Canon, Inc. ADR
Japan
Age: 74
Chairman of consumer electronics giant Canon is also head of Japan's most powerful business lobby, the Nippon Keidanren. Oversees 1,600-strong membership, 130 industrial associations, 47 regional organizations, 1,300 companies. Anomaly to Japan, Inc: Fast, decisive, profit-oriented, far cry from bureaucratic consensus-builders holding back recovery. Uphill battle ahead working with newly elected Democratic Party of Japan, as nearly all Keidanren political contributions went to 50-year incumbents Liberal Democratic Party. In 2007, members contributed total of 2.91 billion yen ($30.8 million) to LDP, vs. measly 80 million yen ($890,000) to DPJ. Criticizes DPJ proposals to ban temporary workers from manufacturing companies, cut greenhouse gases by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020.
