Rakuten

Rakuten Group is a Japanese internet company headquartered in Tokyo. Hiroshi Mikitani founded it in 1997 as an online mall called Rakuten Ichiba. The group reports results in yen. It has offices in Japan, the United States, Europe and Asia, and it markets a card, a bank and a travel site as parts of one membership system.

The group runs one of Japan's largest online shopping sites, along with banking, credit cards, securities brokerage, insurance and a mobile network. Its Rakuten Super Points program ties these services together. It also owns the messaging app Viber and the e-book maker Kobo.

Rakuten sponsors sports teams, including the baseball club Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles and the football club Vissel Kobe. Its shares are listed in Tokyo. The Rakuten Rewards cash back service operates in the United States. Rakuten Mobile has built a cloud-based network in Japan. The company has invested in firms such as Lyft and Pinterest in earlier years. It keeps a large presence in online travel and in fashion marketplaces.