Tokushichi Nomura II

Tokushichi Nomura II (野村 徳七, August 7, 1878 – January 15, 1945) is the founder of the Nomura Group zaibatsu who formed Nomura Securities in 1925. He was born in present-day Yao, Osaka. He was known in childhood as Shinnosuke. In 1928, he was appointed to the House of Peers in Japan.

Shinnosuke made his first fortune in 1915, investing in Fukushima Boseki, a textile company that was widely believed to be headed for bankruptcy. Shinnosuke knew better: He was a friend of the firm's founder Yutaro Yasuhiro. One day, after a hefty sell-off of the firm's shares, Shinnosuke moved quickly, pestering the management to show him their books. The firm showed bulging order books, the factory was running at full capacity, and the profits had never been better.

After seeing the books, he went to the floor of the Osaka exchange and began quietly buying Fukushima Boseki's shares at 20 yen. He kept buying until the price rose to 30 yen. A number of traders had sold the stock short and began to panic. Shinnosuke had bought up most of the available shares. Thus the panic began to drive up the price. Nomura sat back and watched the price rise continually from 35, then 40, 45, and 50. By the end of 1915 the shares had risen to 100 yen, quadrupling Nomura's investment.