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Rakuten CEO donates one billion yen to Ukrainian humanitarian relief

Casey Baseel Mar 1, 2022
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Says that “the trampling of a peaceful and democratic Ukraine by unjustified force is a challenge to democracy.”

Hiroshi Mikitani is a man of many titles. He’s best known as the founder and CEO of Rakuten, which put him in various leadership positions for the conglomerate’s e-commerce, telecommunications, finance, travel, and medical operations. He’s also the chairman of a professional soccer club, the outright owner of a professional baseball team, and also the chairman of the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.

And as of this week, we can add “massive donor of humanitarian aid to Ukraine” to the list. On Sunday, Mikitani sent out a bilingual Japanese/English tweet announcing that he would be donating one billion yen (US$8.7 million) to the country currently under invasion by Russian military forces.

▼ He also said he’d talked it over with his family, since a billion yen really is the kind of expenditure you should run by your spouse first.

僕達にできることは本当に限られていますが、家族と相談し10億円をウクライナに寄付することにしました。
Consulting with my family, we Mikitani family have decided to donate 1 billion yen to Ukraine.
Attached is my letter to President Zaranskyy. Our hearts are with you. pic.twitter.com/w4LAPs7nt7

— 三木谷浩史 Hiroshi (Mickey) Mikitani (@hmikitani) February 26, 2022

In his tweet, Mikitani also included a copy of a letter addressed to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, recalling a meeting between the two three years ago in the capital city of Kyiv. As for how Mikitani hopes the money will be used, in his letter he states that he has “decided to donate [one billion yen] to the Ukrainian government for humanitarian activities to help people in Ukraine who are victims of the violence.”

A billion yen isn’t an amount you just stuff in an envelope and drop in the mail box, and most financial institutions are closed on Sundays. Early Monday morning, though, Mikitani tweeted that the funds had been sent.

お待たせしました。
楽天ポイント、クレジットカードで募金がてぎる、楽天クラッチ募金
『ウクライナ人道危機緊急支援募金』
You can donate to humanitarian fund of Ukraine by Rakuten points or credit card.
Please join and help people suffering in Ukraine.https://t.co/9CssvI7ljy

— 三木谷浩史 Hiroshi (Mickey) Mikitani (@hmikitani) February 28, 2022

Mikitani also added that other Rakuten executives and members of the Japan Association of New Economy business group, which Mikitani is the director of, have made donations, and encouraged others to do so as well, setting up a special web page through which donations can be made using Rakuten points or credit cards.

Source: Twitter/@hmikitani (1, 2, 3) via Sports Hochi via Excite News via Otakomu
Top image: Pakutaso
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