Soichiro Fukutake | |
---|---|
Born | 1945 or 1946 (age 77–78)[1] |
Nationality | Japanese |
Education | Waseda University |
Occupation | former chairman of Benesse Corporation |
Spouse | Married |
Children | Hideaki Fukutake |
Soichiro Fukutake (福武 總一郎, Fukutake Sōichirō, born 1945) is a Japanese billionaire, and the former chairman of the Benesse Corporation, a publishing firm and juku company known for its patronage of the arts.
Fukutake inherited Benesse, which his father founded in 1955 as Fukutake Publishing.[2] After his father's death in 1986, he renamed it Benesse (Latin for well-being), and expanded the company, and his family owns 15% of the company.[1][2] Benesse owns 275 nursing homes in Japan and the Berlitz language schools.[2]
Fukutake is married, with one son Hideake, and lives in Auckland, New Zealand.[1]
He has created four museums or "art shrines" on the islands of Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima in an archipelago in Japan's southern Seto Inland Sea, including the Chichu Art Museum.[2][3] They have been built in collaboration with the architect Tadao Ando.[2]