Keyence

Left school after Amagasaki Industry High School and, without a college degree, worked at a foreign machinery company before founding two businesses that failed. He founded Lead Electric Works in 1972, formally incorporated as Keyence Corporation in 1974. Building on a direct-consultative sales model that eliminated distributors and heavy investment in R&D, he grew Keyence into a global leader in laser sensors, machine vision, barcode readers, and factory automation equipment. He served as Chairman until 2015, when he became Honorary Chairman, and remains one of Japan's wealthiest individuals.