Rakuten is the Japanese e-commerce company founded by Hiroshi Mikitani in 1997.
Mikitani founded the company, originally called MDM, Inc., on February 7, 1997, with three co-founders. Its online marketplace, Rakuten Ichiba, launched in Japan on May 1 that year with just 13 shops and six employees. The company was renamed Rakuten, Inc. in 1999 and went public in 2000.
Rakuten’s model emphasized a marketplace connecting independent sellers with shoppers, combining aspects associated with Amazon and eBay. Over time, the company expanded far beyond online retail into travel bookings, credit cards, banking, digital books, mobile communications, and sports. It also acquired or invested in overseas businesses, including Buy.com, Kobo, Viber, and Ebates, now known as Rakuten Rewards. Yahoo Japan, Mercari, and DMM.com are separate Japanese internet businesses, not the company described here.