A decade ago, Renesas Electronics was under government control and bleeding cash. Now worth $35 billion, the Japanese chipmaker is targeting a market value of around $100 billion by 2030, thanks to a string of overseas acquisitions.
Behind those deals is former Merrill Lynch banker Hidetoshi Shibata. Five years into his tenure as chief executive officer, the 51-year-old sees new business in India and in artificial intelligence-enabling microcontrollers helping the company double annual revenue to a record $20 billion by the end of the decade. His ambition to triple the company’s valuation to between ¥16 trillion ($99 billion) and ¥17 trillion comes as a fresh surge in AI enthusiasm lifts shares of the chipmaker behind Toyota, Honda and Nissan to their highest since the global financial crisis.
Formed out of the chip arms that originated from NEC, Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric, Renesas in 2009 was the world’s No. 3 chipmaker in sales after Intel and Samsung Electronics. But its fortunes faded alongside its Japanese clients. In addition, damage to a key factory in the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake prompted automakers to cut their exposure to any single supplier, and Renesas soon ceded ground to rival NXP Semiconductors.