DeNA Minamiba Chairman Appointed as Keidanren's First Female Vice Chairman

Keidanren has decided on a personnel case to appoint Tomoko Namba, chairman of IT giant DeNA, as the new vice chairman.

This is the first time that a woman has been appointed as Vice Chairman of Keidanren.

According to people familiar with the matter, Keidanren has decided to appoint DeNA Chairman Tomoko Namba as one of the successors to the four vice chairmen who will retire upon expiration of their term.

Mr. Namba is 58 years old.

After working for a foreign-affiliated consulting company, he established DeNA in 1999.

In 2015, he became the owner of the professional baseball Yokohama DeNA BayStars, and is currently a member of the government's Growth Strategy Council.

Keidanren's chairman and vice-chairman posts have all been held by men since its inception, and Mr. Namba is the first woman to become vice-chairman.

This personnel case is expected to be officially decided at the annual general meeting in June after the Keidanren Chairman and Vice Chairman's meeting to be held next month.