Masatoshi Ito is the owner and honorary chairman of Ito-Yokado (Seven & I Holdings), the largest retail group in Japan, and the second largest in the world with sales of $30 billion and a workforce of more than 125,000. The origins of the retail behemoth is Myougaya, a small clothing store in Tokyo in the 1920’s. Masatoshi took it from those small beginnings to what it is today.

The business is most widely known for its 7-Eleven stores. It operates more than 10,000 in Japan, and 5,800in the United States. In the U.S. it also has a thousand other stores including supermarkets, department stores, restaurants – most notably Denny’s.

In Japan the group runs the franchises for Oshman’s sports stores, Robinson’s department stores and Denny’s. In recent years, the group has begun expanding its operations into China. Masatoshi Ito is the business’ largest shareholder.