Tokyo, Japan, January 25, 2023 – Rigaku Corporation (“Rigaku”), Japan’s leading manufacturer of X-ray analysis, measurement and testing instruments, announces today that Toshiyuki Ikeda will resign as President and CEO of Rigaku effective January 31, 2023, and that Jun Kawakami will be his successor. Rigaku Holdings Corporation, the holding company for the Rigaku Group companies, will also name Mr. Kawakami as President and Group CEO succeeding Mr. Ikeda.
Mr. Ikeda, former CEO of Hitachi High-Tech Science Corporation and later CTO and Managing Director of its parent company Hitachi High-Tech Corporation, joined Rigaku in April 2020 and became President and Group CEO in June 2021, shortly after Carlyle acquired majority stake in Rigaku. Mr. Ikeda, who has led the company in transforming its global organization for accelerated business growth and towards its IPO goal, is stepping down to pursue his longtime interest in philanthropy.
Jun Kawakami. Image Credit: Rigaku
Mr. Kawakami, former President & CEO of Arteria Networks Corporation, successfully led the provider of broadband connectivity and network solutions to an IPO in December 2018. He started his career at Booz, Allen and Hamilton Inc., and later joined General Electric to serve in business development roles for its group companies such as GE Aviation, GE Yokogawa Medical, and GE Healthcare. He was President & CEO of GE Healthcare-Japan before joining Arteria Networks. He is currently a Senior Advisor at Carlyle Japan and has been a board member of Rigaku since March 2021.
Mr. Kawakami commented: “Under the leadership of Mr. Ikeda, Rigaku had record earnings for two consecutive years and strengthened its global organization. I will do my utmost to promote the long-term growth of Rigaku, building upon its successful history.”
Hikaru Shimura, Chairman of Rigaku, commented: “I am delighted that Mr. Kawakami will bring his successful management experience into Rigaku as new Group CEO. I am confident that his leadership will help Rigaku fulfill its global growth ambitions and reach its goal of a successful IPO.”
Takaomi Tomioka, Deputy Head of Carlyle Japan and a board member of Rigaku, commented: “We look forward to working with the management team led by Mr. Kawakami, and are committed to supporting the further growth of Rigaku.”
About Rigaku
Since its inception in 1951, Rigaku has been at the forefront of analytical and industrial instrumentation technology. Today, with hundreds of major innovations to their credit, the Rigaku Group of Companies are world leaders in the fields of general X-ray diffraction (XRD), thin film analysis (XRF, XRD and XRR), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF, EDXRF and WDXRF), small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), protein and small molecule X-ray crystallography, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray optics, semiconductor metrology (TXRF, XRF, XRD and XRR), X-ray sources, computed tomography, nondestructive testing and thermal analysis.
With Rigaku's vast understanding of X-ray physics and complementary technologies as a foundation, the company and its employees are dedicated to developing and supplying universities, industry, and government labs with the ultimate in customer-focused integrated solutions across a wide variety of disciplines, including structural biology, nanoengineering research, general purpose X-ray diffraction (XRD) and spectroscopy (XRF), materials analysis, chemical characterization, and quality assurance.
Please visit https://www.rigaku.com/ for more on Rigaku.