The History of Rakuten, Japan's Largest E-Commerce Site

楽 Q 天 Japan's No.1 E-Commerce Site Company Info Name Rakuten, Inc. Founded February 7, 1997 Service Launched May 1, 1997 IPO April 19, 2000 Capital 107,779 million yen Director Hiroshi Mikitani (Chairman&CEO) Employees 7,119 (Consolidated) 3,042 (Non-consolidated) History.of Rakuten. February May 1997 楽 天 ICHIB A "Rakuten Ichiba, "the Internet shopping mall, commences operation Mikitani Hiroshi founded MDM, Inc., predecessor company of Rakuten, Inc June 1999 MDM, Inc. is renamed as Rakuten, Inc April December 2000 Rakuten, Inc. goes public through an IPO on the JASDAQ market ) infoseek Infoseek Japan K.K. is acquired by Rakuten, Inc. to create a portal service March 2001 R Rakuten TRAVEL Rakuten Travel starts online hotel reservation services April November 2002 "Rakuten Super Point Program" is introduced as a new membership loyalty program New merchant fee contract system is introduced, with a combination of monthly fixed fees and commission sales September November 2003 R Rakuten ---> SECURITIES Infoseek Japan K.K. is merged into Rakuten, Inc. Rakuten, Inc. acquires shares in DLJdirect SFG Securities; the company is later renamed Rakuten Securities, Inc. iMyTrip.net is acquired by Rakuten, Inc. ito spearhead the travel business; later įmerged with Rakuten Travel, Inc. in 2004 September October October 2004 RAKUTEN Rakuten Baseball, Inc. is EAGLES founded to start a professional sports business Nippon Professional Baseball AOZORA approves new entry of "Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles" Rakuten, Inc. acquires shares in "Aozora Card"; the company is later renamed Rakuten Credit, Inc. June September December 2005 楽 天 LinkShareM döcomo Rakuten KC Rakuten Auction, Inc. is founded as a joint venture with NTT DOCOMO, INC. Rakuten, Inc. acquires 100% Kokunai Shinpan Co, Ltd. (now Rakuten KQ is consolidated as a subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc of shares in LinkShare Corporation through Rakuten USA, Inc. to spearhead global internet marketing July November 2006 Rakuten KC transfers its credit business ANA to Orient Corporation to streamline its business Rakuten, Inc. and All Nippon Airways Co, Ltd. (ANA) establish Rakuten ANA Travel Online Co, Ltd. July 2007 FUSION communications Rakuten, Inc. acquires shares in Fusion Communications to commence IP telephony business February July September 2008 Internet supermarket operator Rakuten, Inc. and "President Chain Store" establish a joint Rakuten, Inc. acquires 100% Net's Partners Inc. is induded in of shares in bridal information the consolidation as a subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc. through additional stock purchase venture to start a Taiwan & service provider, O-net, Inc. -based internet shopping mall business: Rakuten Ichiba Rakuten, Inc. signs an agreement Iwith eBank Corporation (now Rakuten Bank) regarding a istrategic and capital alliance Taiwan February March September November 2009 TARAD DOTCOM eBank Corporation (now Rakuten Bank) is consolidated as a subsidiary of Rakuten, Inc. SHOWTIME A capital alliance agreement is signed with bitWallet, Inc. The Leader in e-Commerce Selution Pay-per-view video service provider SHOWTIME, Inc. is made a wholly- owned subsidiary through additional stock purchase TARAD Dot Com Co., Ltd., an Internet shopping mall operator in Thailand, becomes a subsidiary through Rakuten (Thailand) Co, Ltd. January May June 2010 Bai du E Buy.com PRICE MINISTER Rakuten, Inc. and Baidu, Inc., the leading Chinese language Internet search provider, agree on the establishment of a joint venture to jointly operate an Internet shopping mall in Rakuten, Inc. announced the acquisition of Buy.com, a leading U.S. online retail marketplace Rakuten, Inc. announced the acquisition of PriceMinister S.A, the most visited e-commerce site in France iRakuten, Inc. and Indonesia's largest media group, PT iGlobal Mediacom Tbk agree jon forming a joint venture to Hlaunch Rakuten Ichiba's Ibusiness in Indonesia China April May June 2011 Google Rakuten Auction is awarded the tender for the FY2011 "Internet Auction" globalmediacom under the National Rakuten and Global Rakuten Group concludes cooperative business Tax Agency Mediacom Launch Online Shopping Mall "Rakuten BELANJA agreement on search and contextual advertising with Google Rakuten launches "Rakuten iSocial Responsibility Project" ihomepage: Dedicated page to provide updates on activity iprogress and support the icreation of a new Japan in the iaftermath of the March 11 idisaster ONLINE" Rakuten to Acquire lkeda in Brazil Rakuten's Global Reach Expands to Include South America Penn Olson THE ASIAN TECH CATALOG www.penn-olson.com designed by: kent Tupas www.whatsthelatest.net