News - 2021

Bridgestone Announces Expansion of Global CFO Function and Appointment of New Global CFO

Reinforcement of Management Foundation to Accelerate Mid-Long Term Business Strategy

2021/08/10

Tokyo (August 10, 2021) - Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) announced today that it will expand the function of its Global CFO position and appoint a new Global CFO on September 1, 2021. The new Global CFO will play a core role in advancing the Mid-Long Term Business Strategy to accomplish Bridgestone's vision of continuing to provide social value and customer value as a sustainable solutions company toward 2050.

Based on the Mid-Long Term Business Strategy, the Mid Term Business Plan was announced on February 16, 2021. This plan defines concrete targets and actions aimed at securing a competitive advantage through efforts to support the mobility and movement of people and goods and create social and customer value. With an eye to 2030, the company executes the Mid Term Business Plan while taking an aggressive approach in transforming to a strong Bridgestone capable of responding to ongoing challenges in the global business environment.

As one facet of these efforts and with the aim of ensuring the swift and effective execution of the Mid Term Business Plan, Bridgestone will expand the function of the position of Global CFO effective September 1, 2021. This expansion will entail merging the Company's prior business planning functions and managerial accounting functions to evolve the position to better facilitate the ongoing improvement of corporate value.

Specifically, the new function of the Global CFO position will include overseeing financial planning and analysis, finances, accounting, taxation affairs, investor relations, procurement, IT platforms, and administrative management on a global basis.

The position of Global CFO will be filled by Masuo Yoshimatsu, current advisor of the Company who is slated to become a Vice President & Senior Officer on September 1, 2021. Yoshimatsu has accumulated a wealth of experience in CFO positions at global companies, which has granted him deep insight and a strong propensity for driving action.

Also effective September 1, 2021, Yoshimatsu will become a member of the Global Executive Committee, the Bridgestone Group's highest global executive decision-making body, and will assume an important role in the Group's global management with responsibilities for implementing and evolving current measures for rebuilding earning power, conducting strategic growth investments, and practicing portfolio management.

Abbreviated Career History of New Global CFO
Masuo Yoshimatsu

1982		BA in Economics, Keio University
1999		MS in Management, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
1982		Joined Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Appointed to global locations at subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Singapore and the United States.
2000		Director and Executive General Manager of Accounting and Finance Division, Sun Microsystems, Inc.(Japan)
2008		Joined Nidec Corporation
	2008 (June)	Member of the Board of Directors and Vice President, Nidec Corporation
	2009 (June)	Member of the Board of Directors, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Nidec Corporation
	2013 (April)	Member of the Board of Directors, First Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Nidec Corporation
	2018	Retired from Officer, Nidec Corporation
2019		Professor, Graduate School of Management at Tokyo Metropolitan University (present)
		Visiting Professor, Kyoto University of Advanced Science
		Representative Director, President and CEO, CFO Support Co., Ltd. (present)
2021	(June)	Lead Expert, Assistant to Global CEO and Representative Executive Officer, Bridgestone Corporation
	(September)	Vice President and Senior Officer Global CFO (Global Chief Financial Officer), Bridgestone Corporation

About Bridgestone Corporation:
Bridgestone is a global leader in tires and rubber and is building on its expertise to provide solutions for safe and sustainable mobility. Headquartered in Tokyo, the company employs approximately 140,000 people globally and conducts business in more than 150 countries and territories worldwide. Bridgestone offers a diverse product portfolio of premium tires and advanced solutions backed by innovative technologies, improving the way people around the world move, live, work and play.