James Gorman and Hiroshi Mikitani: Are They Connected? 

James Gorman and Hiroshi Mikitani have no documented personal partnership, shared board seat, or joint company. Plenty of people search their names together expecting a hidden deal or an old friendship. The record doesn’t show one. What it does show is a business link between two companies: Rakuten, which Mikitani founded and still runs, hired Morgan Stanley for financing deals between 2022 and 2024.

The first of those deals was in November 2022, when Gorman was still in charge at the bank. He ran Morgan Stanley as CEO from 2010 to the end of 2023, after joining in 2006. The public notices name the bank. Gorman’s name isn’t in them. These days he chairs Disney’s board, and Mikitani is still at the helm of Rakuten. What follows is the timeline, a quick profile of each man, and the claims the evidence can’t support.

Quick Facts at a Glance

What the Public Record Shows (and What It Doesn’t)

Company announcements and law firm deal notes back up three things:

• Rakuten used Morgan Stanley entities in debt, share, and note buyback deals between 2022 and 2024.
• Gorman was Morgan Stanley’s CEO and chairman during the first three.
• Both men come from finance and lead or chair large international companies.

Nothing public supports these:

• A personal partnership, co-investment, or joint company.
• Gorman advised Mikitani personally on any deal.
• A shared board seat anywhere.

Most of the confusion online lives in the space between those two lists. A bank doing work for a client is just business. It doesn’t tell you the bank’s boss ever met the client’s founder.

How Rakuten and Morgan Stanley Are Connected

Rakuten is a Japanese tech group. Like any big company it borrows, sells shares, and tidies up old debt, and it needs banks for that. Morgan Stanley was one of several it used.

Timeline of Rakuten Deals With Morgan Stanley

Some quick definitions help here. An initial purchaser buys new notes from the company and resells them to investors. A joint lead manager helps run a share sale. A dealer manager runs an offer to buy back old notes.

The dates matter. Three of the four deals happened on Gorman’s watch as CEO. The last one came after he’d moved to executive chairman. And Morgan Stanley wasn’t alone: Goldman Sachs, Daiwa, Mizuho, and other banks worked on several of the same deals.

The notices list the firm and stay silent on Gorman. That’s normal. Deal teams handle this sort of work, and the CEO rarely touches it.

Morgan Stanley’s Presence in Japan

Morgan Stanley has had a foothold in Japan for decades. In 2008 it partnered with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the country’s largest banking groups, and two joint ventures launched in 2010. Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities serves individuals and ordinary businesses. Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities is aimed at big institutional clients.

It’s worth knowing if you read Japanese deal news, because Morgan Stanley-linked names can show up through these ventures. A firm’s name on a deal doesn’t mean any executive has a personal tie to it.

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Does Morgan Stanley Own Part of Rakuten?

Not necessarily, even if a shareholder list makes it look that way. Lists for Japanese companies often include brokerage accounts, like a client securities account held at a large bank. Those accounts hold shares on behalf of many clients, so they don’t show that the bank itself owns the stake.

So a Morgan Stanley name on the list isn’t proof of ownership. And it says nothing at all about Gorman holding Rakuten shares.

Hiroshi Mikitani: From 13 Online Stores to the Rakuten Ecosystem

Mikitani was born in Kobe in 1965 and went to Hitotsubashi University, one of Japan’s top schools for business and economics. In 1988 he joined the Industrial Bank of Japan, and in 1993 he finished an MBA at Harvard Business School.

He founded the company that became Rakuten in February 1997, and its online mall, Rakuten Ichiba, opened that May. By most accounts it began very small: six staff and 13 shops. The idea was straightforward. Small and regional sellers could reach customers online without a famous retail brand behind them.

It didn’t stay small. The group now runs more than 70 businesses covering shopping, travel, banking, securities, credit cards, digital content, and mobile service. Rakuten calls this web of services the Rakuten Ecosystem.

A typical customer shows how it fits together. Say someone shops on Rakuten Ichiba and collects Rakuten Points. They pay with a Rakuten Card, and their bank is Rakuten Bank. Each piece gives them another reason to stay inside the network. Rakuten says membership reaches about 2.1 billion people worldwide.

Mobile was the toughest bet. Rakuten Mobile launched its own network in 2020 and lost money for years. The company eventually reported a first full year of mobile EBITDA profit, with around 10 million subscriptions. Its August 2026 results briefing added second quarter net income of 27.2 billion yen, which the report described as the company’s first profit in six years.

One more thing separates Mikitani from a hired CEO: he owns a lot of the company. A February 2026 shareholder disclosure showed him with about 8.14 percent of Rakuten. Crimson Group, LLC, a holder linked to his interests, appeared separately with 10.43 percent.

James Gorman: How He Reshaped Morgan Stanley and What He Does Now

Gorman grew up in Australia. At the University of Melbourne he earned arts and law degrees, and he began his career as a lawyer in the city. Later came a senior partnership at McKinsey, then senior jobs at Merrill Lynch. His MBA is from Columbia University.

Morgan Stanley hired him in February 2006. By December 2007 he was one of two presidents, and in January 2010 he became CEO, at a time when the bank was still recovering from the financial crisis. The chairman title followed in January 2012.

His strategy was to tilt the bank toward wealth and asset management. Those businesses bring in steadier fees than trading, which rises and falls with the markets. Two acquisitions made it real. In 2020 Morgan Stanley bought ETRADE, which the bank said added more than 5.2 million client accounts and over $360 billion in client assets. Eaton Vance, an investment manager, came next.

He also left on schedule. Ted Pick took over as CEO on January 1, 2024, with Gorman staying on as executive chairman for that year. In January 2025 he became Chairman Emeritus.

Then came Disney. Gorman chaired the board’s Succession Planning Committee, which was hunting for Bob Iger’s successor, and later became board chairman. Disney picked Josh D’Amaro as the next CEO, effective at the March 2026 annual meeting. On the side, Gorman is a senior advisor at General Atlantic, a global investment firm, a director of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a Columbia University trustee.

Founder vs Professional CEO

Set the two men next to each other and you get two very different ways to run a giant company.

Gorman was hired and promoted, so he never had a founder’s stake. His field was banking, wealth management, and now governance. His signature move was reworking an existing bank around steadier income, and then handing it to Ted Pick. At Disney he sits in the chair, not the corner office.

Mikitani went the other way. He started Rakuten, still holds a big personal stake, and runs it day to day. His world is e-commerce, fintech, and mobile, all pulled together through one customer network. Public records name no successor.

A professional CEO can change a mature firm without owning it. A founder can pursue one vision for decades, though the company stays tied to one person. Neither is better across the board. Gorman’s job was to steady a bank and pass it on, and Mikitani’s has been to grow a network of businesses he began himself.

Where Else Do Their Paths Cross?

In a few small ways, none of which add up to a shared project. Both trained in finance and worked across borders. Gorman moved from Australia to the United States. Mikitani studied in the States and later pushed Rakuten overseas. The World Economic Forum keeps profile pages for both.

Gorman also has a visible Japan connection. In May 2011, while CEO of Morgan Stanley, he gave the keynote at the Japan Society’s annual dinner in New York. That shows an interest in Japan. It doesn’t link him to Mikitani.

We found no public record of a shared board seat, a joint company, or a joint investment between the two. A verified joint panel or meeting, if one appears, would count as new evidence. Until then, safe reading is a shared industry, not a shared project.

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Myths vs Facts

Nearly every myth here comes from treating a company relationship as a personal one.

• “They co-founded or co-invested in a company.” No public record shows this.
• “Gorman advised Mikitani personally.” Deal notices name Morgan Stanley entities, not Gorman as an individual.
• “Morgan Stanley owns Rakuten.” Shareholder lists show brokerage accounts, and those don’t prove the bank owns anything.
• “Gorman works for Rakuten.” He doesn’t. He chairs Disney’s board and holds Morgan Stanley’s emeritus title.
• “The Rakuten link ended when Gorman retired.” Unclear. Notices after 2023 still list the bank, so the institutional tie didn’t hinge on him.

Where Each Stands in October 2026

• Mikitani: Still Rakuten’s chairman, president, and CEO. Rakuten said its fintech reorganization, built around Rakuten Bank, takes effect in October 2026.
• Gorman: Chairs Disney’s board, holds Morgan Stanley’s emeritus title, and advises General Atlantic.
• Disney: Josh D’Amaro is CEO, a change Gorman’s committee guided.
• Morgan Stanley: Ted Pick runs the bank as CEO.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are James Gorman and Hiroshi Mikitani business partners?

No. No public record shows a partnership, joint company, or shared board seat. The link is between Rakuten and Morgan Stanley.

Did James Gorman ever work for Rakuten?

No. His career went through Merrill Lynch, McKinsey, Morgan Stanley, Disney, and General Atlantic.

Did Morgan Stanley help Rakuten raise money?

Yes. Morgan Stanley entities took part in Rakuten’s note sales in 2022 and 2023, its 2023 share offering, and its 2024 tender offers. Other banks were involved as well.

Is Gorman still at Morgan Stanley?

Not day to day. Since January 2025 he’s been Chairman Emeritus, an honorary title.

Who runs Disney now?

Josh D’Amaro is CEO, and Gorman chairs the board.

Is Hiroshi Mikitani still CEO of Rakuten?

Yes. Rakuten lists him as Representative Director, Chairman, President and CEO.

Does Morgan Stanley own shares in Rakuten?

Shareholder lists show brokerage accounts that hold shares for clients. That doesn’t prove the bank owns them.

Why do people search these two names together?

Search tools tend to pair prominent executives from linked industries, and Rakuten’s use of Morgan Stanley gives the pairing a real business tie.

Conclusion

James Gorman and Hiroshi Mikitani get searched together all the time, and people usually expect a hidden deal behind it. There isn’t one. No partnership, no joint company, no shared board seat. The only real tie is between their companies: Rakuten hired Morgan Stanley for note sales, a share offering and tender offers between 2022 and 2024. Gorman ran the bank for most of that stretch, but the notices named the firm, not him.

As leaders, the two couldn’t be more different. Gorman was hired in, rebuilt Morgan Stanley around wealth management, passed it to Ted Pick, and now chairs Disney. Mikitani started Rakuten in 1997, still runs it, and holds a big stake.