Bismarck Brief

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Bismarck Brief
Mitsubishi is the World’s Largest Industrial Conglomerate
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Mitsubishi is the World’s Largest Industrial Conglomerate

The Japanese conglomerate is so large it blurs the lines between itself, the national economy, and the government. It is also a key infrastructure and aerospace manufacturer for the wider world.

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Samo Burja
Jan 08, 2025
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Bismarck Brief
Bismarck Brief
Mitsubishi is the World’s Largest Industrial Conglomerate
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Mitsubishi executives unveil a new vehicle in 2022. Photo from Mitsubishi Motors. Source.

The Mitsubishi Group informally refers to 27 autonomous but affiliated Japanese companies with over 600 subsidiaries between them, employing a total of over 870,000 people.1 Three companies are known as Mitsubishi’s “great houses”: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) is Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi Corporation is the country’s largest “trading company,” and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) is an industrial conglomerate that manufactures turbines, ships, and military equipment. In total, the 23 largest companies of the Mitsubishi Group had a 2024 revenue of ¥81 trillion yen, approximately $575 billion.2 This is equivalent to a staggering 14% of Japan’s GDP, a proportion nearing those of Hyundai or Samsung in South Korea, and more than the GDP of most countries.3 If viewed as a single corporate entity, Mitsubishi would be the third-largest company in the world by revenue or by employees, behind Walmart and Amazon by either metric, and thus the world’s single largest non-retail company.4

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